Columbia College Chicago Presents 'Corrosive Like Salt Water'

Sofía Gallisá Mugiente, "Lluvia con nieve," 2014, two-channel video projection.

CHICAGO (August 22, 2018)Columbia College Chicago’s Glass Curtain Gallery today announced Corrosive Like Salt Water, an exhibition featuring the work of Puerto Rican artists, opening September 4 and curated by Sharmyn Cruz Rivera. A reception open to the public will be held September 13 from 5 to 7 p.m. 

Corrosive Like Salt Water brings together the work of artists whose practices pose compelling formal propositions, politically charged imagery, and social commentary about Puerto Rico’s social and geopolitical position. Through the use of esoteric, sarcastic, and kinetic elements, these artists unveil the mosaic of idiosyncrasies related to being born in a territory invaded by the United States during the Spanish-American War which is now a U.S. commonwealth. 

“This exhibition brings together artists working internationally, including Chicago-based artists Josue Pellot and Edra Soto,” said Meg Duguid, director of exhibitions for Columbia’s Department of Exhibitions and Performance Spaces. “Sharmyn Cruz Rivera has curated a show featuring a generation of Puerto Rican artists whose work points to the inherent dogma in all materials. Corrosive Like Salt Water will remind audiences that even the air we breath is laden with the political.”

In Corrosive Like Salt Water, the artists employ revisionist methods and use cultural signifiers to meditate and comment on the complexity of Puerto Rico’s racial and economic legacies. In addition to Pellot and Soto, participating artists include: Ramón Miranda Beltrán, Jorge González, Sofía Gallisá Muriente, Guillermo Rodriguez, Monica Rodriguez, nibia pastrana santiago, and Chemi Rosado-Seijo.

The exhibition will run September 4–October 19, 2018. For more information, visit the exhibition page.

Related Programming:

Chemi Rosado-Seijo Lecture 
Wednesday, September 12, 6 p.m.
623 S. Wabash Ave., Room 109

The Art and Art History Department at Columbia College Chicago is pleased to present a lecture by Chemi Rosado-Seijo in conjunction with the Corrosive Like Salt Water exhibition at the Glass Curtain Gallery. Born in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, Rosado-Seijo graduated from the painting department of the Puerto Rico School of Visual Arts in 1997. In 2000, Rosado-Seijo had his first solo show at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona. Rosado-Seijo has participated in numerous exhibitions and biennials, including the Whitney (2002), Prague (2005), Havana (2006), Pontevedra (2010) and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico (2014). That same year he received the Creative Capital Grant for another ongoing community project in La Perla. In 2015, Rosado-Seijo was granted The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Artist as Activist Fellowship for El Cerro, honoring artists pursuing ambitious creative projects with a social purpose. For more information on this event, visit colum.edu/deps.

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Sharmyn Cruz Rivera is Assistant Curator at The Green Lantern Press based at Sector 2337 in Chicago. Cruz Rivera holds an MA in Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a dual BA in Art History and Modern Languages from the University of Puerto Rico.

Columbia College Chicago's Department of Exhibitions and Performance Spaces (DEPS) is the college’s student-centered galleries, performance venues, and art boutique. The spaces are hubs for social, educational, and cultural activities for all Columbia students and the broader community. As an extension of the classroom, DEPS incorporates the college’s curriculum by building programs with academic departments combining theory with practice. Through civic engagement, DEPS connects students and the college to local, national, and international partners to provide experiential learning and professional development through collaboration. The spaces present innovative and accessible programs and opportunities for students, the college, and beyond. 

Columbia College Chicago is a private, nonprofit college offering a distinctive curriculum that blends creative and media arts, liberal arts, and business for nearly 7,500 students in more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Dedicated to academic excellence and long-term career success, Columbia College Chicago creates a dynamic, challenging, and collaborative space for students who experience the world through a creative lens. For more information, visit colum.edu.

 

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Heather Aguilar
Columbia College Chicago
haguilar@colum.edu
312-369-7418

Meg Duguid
Department of Exhibitions and Performance Spaces
mduguid@colum.edu
312-369-8686