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Washington, DC – The Smithsonian Latino Center and the Smithsonian American Art Museum will present renowned Latino performance artist Harry Gamboa Jr. in “Erased: Limits and Borders” Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. in the museum’s McEvoy Auditorium. The program will include a Q-and A period, moderated by Dr. E. Carmen Ramos, curator of Latino art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and will be followed by a book signing with Gamboa in the museum’s G Street Lobby. Two of Gamboa’s works, Urban Exile: Collected Writings of Harry Gamboa Jr. (University Of Minnesota Press, 1998) and Fallen (CreateSpace, 2010), will be available for purchase at the museum store, which will remain open until 8:30 p.m. This program is free and open to the public.
Gamboa will reflect on the social and personal conditions of Chicanos during the second half of the 20th century that led to the development of Asco as an art collective and response to various urban stimuli. He will continue by incorporating the use of visual language in conjunction with social cues, stylized forms of prose and dramatic scripting to generate/dispel myths in the barrio and beyond. Gamboa will explore and discuss the use of live stage performances, mail art and printed text as well as his role as artist who has informed others that Chicano cultural attributes are not dependent on mainstream Hollywood negative stereotypes. The program will include a PowerPoint presentation with many images that Gamboa has produced from 1972 to 2010 related to his work.
Since 1972, Gamboa has been actively creating works in various media/forms that document and interpret the contemporary urban Chicano experience. He is probably best known for his work with the East Los Angeles-based performance group that he co-founded called Asco (Spanish for nausea). Asco performed regularly in the street/public art scene from 1972 to 1987 staging a number of events that underscored the potentially explosive social and racial conditions in LA and helped to place these issues in a larger international context.
Gamboa’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; Musée Nicéphore Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saone, France; Museo de Arte de Zapopan in Guadalajara, México; and the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland among others. His work has also been featured in publications, including La Opinión, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Art Review (London), The Christian Science Monitor, Actuel (Paris), Reforma (Mexico City) and The Village Voice. He is a member of the faculty at California Institute of the Arts, School of Art, Program in Photography and Media. He also lectures for Chicano/a Studies Department at California State University, Northridge. For more information visit http://harrygamboajr.com.
The Smithsonian Latino Center is the division of the Smithsonian Institution that ensures that Latino contributions to art, science and the humanities are highlighted, understood and advanced through the development and support of public programs, scholarly research, museum collections and educational opportunities at the Smithsonian Institution and its affiliated organizations across the United States and internationally. Website: http://latino.si.edu
The Smithsonian American Art Museum celebrates the vision and creativity of Americans with artworks in all media spanning more than three centuries. The museum’s pioneering collection includes more than 500 works by Latino artists collected during the past 30 years. It is located at Eighth and F streets N.W. Museum hours are 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, except Dec. 25. Admission is free. Follow the museum on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, ArtBabble, iTunes and YouTube. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Smithsonian Information: (202) 633-1000; |
