no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria
Nov 23, 2022–Apr 23, 2023
Gamaliel Rodríguez, Collapsed Soul, 2020–21. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 84 × 112 in. (213.3 × 284.5 cm). © 2021 Gamaliel Rodríguez. Courtesy the artist and Nathalie Karg Gallery NYC. Photograph by Gamaliel Rodríguez
no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria is organized to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria—a high-end Category 4 storm that hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. The exhibition explores how artists have responded to the transformative years since that event by bringing together more than fifty artworks made over the last five years by an intergenerational group of more than fifteen artists from Puerto Rico and the diaspora. no existe un mundo poshuracán—a verse borrowed from Puerto Rican poet Raquel Salas Rivera—is the first scholarly exhibition focused on Puerto Rican art to be organized by a large U.S. museum in nearly half a century.
While Hurricane Maria serves as a focal point, the exhibition is defined by a larger context in which the aftermath of the storm was further exacerbated by the chain of events that preceded and followed this (un)natural disaster, including the austerity measures implemented by the PROMESA law (also known as La Junta); the deaths of 4,645 Puerto Ricans as a consequence of the Hurricane; the protests during the Verano del 19 (Summer of 2019) that led to the ouster of governor Ricardo Rosselló; the string of earthquakes; the COVID-19 pandemic; and much more. As a response to these constant existential threats, the exhibition offers a platform to the artists and the ways they have forged paths through the wake of these legacies.
This exhibition is organized by Marcela Guerrero, Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator, with Angelica Arbelaez, Rubio Butterfield Family Fellow, and Sofía Silva, former Curatorial & Education Fellow in U.S. Latinx Art.
Please read about the exhibition’s accessibility information before visiting no existe un mundo poshuracán.
Leadership support for no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria is provided by David Cancel and the Mellon Foundation.
The exhibition is part of the Whitney's emerging artists program, sponsored by
Generous support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Judy Hart Angelo, the Elaine Graham Weitzen Foundation for Fine Arts, and the Whitney's National Committee.
Significant support is provided by Further Forward Foundation, the Kapadia Equity Fund, and The Keith Haring Foundation Exhibition Fund.
Additional support is provided by Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund.
Curatorial research and travel for this exhibition were funded by an endowment established by Rosina Lee Yue and Bert A. Lies, Jr., MD.
En Español
La exposición no existe un mundo poshuracán: Arte puertorriqueño después del huracán María coincide con el quinto aniversario del huracán María, una tormenta de categoría 4 que azotó Puerto Rico el 20 de septiembre de 2017. Explora cómo los artistas han respondido a los años de transformación desde ese evento, reuniendo más de cincuenta obras de arte realizadas en los últimos cinco años por un grupo intergeneracional de más de quince artistas de Puerto Rico y de la diáspora. “no existe un mundo poshuracán”, es un verso prestado por el poeta puertorriqueño Raquel Salas Rivera. Ésta es la primera exposición académica centrada en el arte puertorriqueño organizada por un gran museo estadounidense en casi medio siglo.
Si bien el huracán María sirve de punto principal, la exhibición se define por un contexto más amplio en el que las consecuencias de la tormenta se vieron exacerbadas por la cadena de acontecimientos que precedieron y siguieron a este desastre (in)natural, incluidas las medidas de austeridad aplicadas por la ley PROMESA (también conocida como La Junta); la muerte de 4,645 puertorriqueños como consecuencia del huracán; las protestas durante el Verano del 19 (Verano de 2019) que llevaron a la destitución del gobernador Ricardo Rosselló; la cadena de terremotos; la pandemia del COVID-19; y mucho más. Como respuesta a estas constantes amenazas existenciales, la exposición ofrece una plataforma a los artistas y las formas en que han forjado caminos a través de la estela de estos legados.
Esta exposición está organizada por Marcela Guerrero, Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator, junto con Angélica Arbelaez, Rubio Butterfield Family Fellow, y Sofía Silva, anterior becaria de curaduría y educación en arte Latinx de Estados Unidos.
Accede al catálogo en español de la exposición.
Por favor, lea la información de accesibilidad de la exposición antes de visitar no existe un mundo poshuracán.
El patrocinio principal de no existe un mundo poshuracán: Arte puertorriqueño después del huracán María es proporcionado por David Cancel y la Mellon Foundation.
Esta exposición es parte del programa de artistas emergentes del Whitney, patrocinado por
Se ha recibido el generoso apoyo de la Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Judy Hart Angelo, Elaine Graham Weitzen Foundation for Fine Arts y el National Committee del Whitney.
Una contribución significativa ha sido provista por Further Forward Foundation, el Kapadia Equity Fund y la Keith Haring Foundation Exhibition Fund.
Apoyo adicional es proporcionado por Furthermore: un programa del J. M. Kaplan Fund.
La investigación curatorial y los viajes para esta exposición fueron financiados por una donación otorgada por Rosina Lee Yue y Bert A. Lies, Jr., MD.
Events
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Sun,
Apr 23
Weekend Member Mornings
9:30–10:30 am
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Sat,
Apr 22
Ethics of Looking: Drop-in Discussion
4:30 pm
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Sat,
Apr 22
Open Studio: Gabriela Salazar
11 am–3 pm
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Sat,
Apr 22
Free Admission Day
10:30 am–6 pm
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Sat,
Apr 22
Día de Entrada Gratuita
10:30 am–6 pm
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Sat,
Apr 22
Weekend Member Mornings
9:30–10:30 am
Essays
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Maria's Wake: Puerto Rican Art, 2017–2022
Read essayThis is an excerpt of Marcela Guerrero’s essay “Maria's Wake: Puerto Rican Art, 2017–2022,” republished from the exhibition catalogue no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria.
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La Vigilia Después de María: Arte Puertorriqueño, 2017–2022
Read essayEsta es una traducción al español de un fragmento del ensayo de Marcela Guerrero titulado "La Vigilia Después de María: Arte Puertorriqueño, 2017–2022" del catálogo de la exposición no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria.
Audio guides
Frances Gallardo, Aerosoles (Aerosols), 2021–22. Color pencil on laser-etched paper, 12 × 17 5/16 in. (30.5 × 43.9 cm). Courtesy the artist
Hear directly from artists and curators on selected works from the exhibition.
View guideInstallation Photography
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). Sofía Gallisá Muriente Celaje (Cloudscape), 2020. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). Gabriela Salazar, Reclamation (and Place, Puerto Rico), 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). Gabriela Salazar, Reclamation (and Place, Puerto Rico), 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). Elle Pérez, Wednesday, Friday, 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023) From left to right: Candida Alvarez, Lomas (Mountains), 2018; Garvin Sierra Vega, Thirty-eight works from a series of digital posters posted on Instagram, 2019–22. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Lulu Varona, Mapa (Map), 2020; Candida Alvarez, Here to There, 2018; Sofía Córdova, dawn_chorus ii: el niágara en bicicleta (dawn_chorus ii: crossing the niagara on a bicycle), 2018. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Javier Orfón, Elegía de Gongolí (Gongoli’s Elegy), 2021; Javier Orfón, Bromelia Gigante, 2021; Javier Orfón, Avispas, 2021; Javier Orfón, Petroglifos, 2021; Javier Orfón, Bientevéo (Iseeyouwell), 2021; Javier Orfón, Papo Vives, 2018; Javier Orfón, Danza de la muerte, 2021; Javier Orfón, Palmeras (Palm Trees), 2021; Javier Orfón, Vereda I, 2021; Javier Orfón, Bejuco Colorado, 2021; Javier Orfón, René, 2021; Javier Orfón, Lucía Spondylurus Nitidus, 2021. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Lulu Varona, Mapa (Map), 2020; Lulu Varona, Ir y venir (Come and Go), 2021; Armig Santos, Yellow Flowers, 2022; Gabriella N. Báez, stitched image from Ojalá nos encontremos en el mar (Hopefully, We’ll Meet at Sea), 2018–; Armig Santos, Procesión en Vieques III (Procession in Vieques III), 2022; Candida Alvarez, Here to There, 2018; Candida Alvarez, Lomas (Mountains), 2018; Frances Gallardo, work from Aerosoles (Aerosols), 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Sofía Gallisá Muriente, B-Roll, 2017; Yiyo Tirado Rivera, La Concha, 2022; Yiyo Tirado Rivera, Desplazamiento I (Puerta de Tierra) (Displacement I [Puerta de Tierra]), 2020. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Candida Alvarez, Jellow (Yellow), 2018; Edra Soto, GRAFT, 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Candida Alvarez, Here to There, 2018; Sofía Córdova, dawn_chorus ii: el niágara en bicicleta (dawn_chorus ii: crossing the niagara on a bicycle), 2018; Armig Santos, Yellow Flowers, 2022; Armig Santos, Procesión en Vieques III (Procession in Vieques III), 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Danielle De Jesus, Google the Ponce Massacre, 2021; Miguel Luciano, Shields / Escudos, 2020; Gabriela Salazar, Reclamation (and Place, Puerto Rico), 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In the Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Rogelio Báez Vega, Paradox of the New Landscape IV, 2018; Gabriella Torres-Ferrer, Untitled (Valora tu mentira americana) (Untitled [Value Your American Lie]), 2018. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Explore works from this exhibition
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In the News
“…honors the past to shine a light on the future.” —The New Yorker
“It’s charged up and irrepressible.” —New York Times
“…I gleaned the constant back-and-forth of independence and statehood movements, the problems of government corruption, and the richness of creative force that seems to underlie and transcend all of this.” —New York Magazine
“Guerrero is redefining what we consider “American art”...” —The Cut
“…there is no “normal” for Puerto Rico to return to... it’s the artist’s job to imagine new ways forward.” —The Guardian
“El arte puede plantear posibilidades, y Guerrero aspira a que esta muestra motive acciones políticas y sociales para cambiar el rumbo del país.” —El País
“Los artistas de la exhibición buscan analizar las fracturas que dejó la tormenta en la estructura misma de la política, la cultura y la sociedad de Puerto Rico.” —Telemundo 47
“There is a tragic beauty here tempered by sadness and mixed with hope.” —ABC 7 New York
“On display isn't just art. It's resistance.” —CNN Style
“The goal of the art exhibition is to combine sentiments of anger and struggle in the aftermath of the storm but also sadness and mourning with a touch of hope for the future.” —NBC 4 New York
“El arte puede ser el faro que nos haga vislumbrar un mundo poshuracán.” —The Washington Post
“The goal of the art exhibition is to combine sentiments of anger and struggle in the aftermath of the storm, but also sadness and mourning with a touch of hope for the future.” —NBC 4 New York
“The works on view mourn the impoverishment of local institutions – schools, universities, hospitals – yet they also lend tacit or active support to the new grassroots organizations that are creating parallel infrastructures of self-governance.” —Frieze
“...the show’s strength is in its ability to complicate those images through art that is at times highly personal…” —Hyperallergic
“...a moving and powerful statement about how Puerto Rican artists have survived and resisted, in the process creating new forms of community, protest, and art.” —ARTnews
“As the exhibition reminds us, even a calamity can breed nostalgia.” —Financial Times
“The work seeks to highlight the fractures in the structure of Puerto Rico's politics, culture and society, all strained even more following the hurricane.” —CBS News New York
Update: Current Conditions
Hurricane Fiona made landfall on September 19, 2022 and struck Puerto Rico’s southwest coastal municipalities leaving millions without power and inundating communities. The storm arrived five years after the island experienced the devastation of Hurricane Maria.
To learn more about Puerto Rico’s ongoing disaster recovery efforts through accessible data and a directory of initiatives and organization, please visit The Disaster Resources Hub, a project of EL CENTRO, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College.
Access the Disaster Resource Hub
Actualización: Condiciones Actuales
El huracán Fiona tocó tierra el 19 de septiembre de 2022 y azotó los municipios costeros del suroeste de Puerto Rico, dejando a millones de personas sin electricidad e inundando comunidades. La tormenta llegó cinco años después de que la isla experimentara la devastación del huracán María.
Para saber más sobre los esfuerzos de recuperación de desastres en curso en Puerto Rico a través de datos accesibles y un directorio de iniciativas y organizaciones, por favor visite: The Disaster Resources Hub, un proyecto de EL CENTRO, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies de Hunter College.