Zilia Sánchez: Soy Isla (I Am an Island) at El Museo del Barrio ~ November 20, 2019

East Harlem, El Museo Del Barrio

 

 

 

Zilia Sánchez, Lunar con tatuaje (Moon with Tattoo), c. 1968/96. Acrylic on stretched canvas, 71 x 72 x 12 in., Collection of theartist, Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co., New York

Zilia Sánchez: Soy Isla (I Am an Island) is the first museum retrospective of the prolific, innovative, and yet largely unknown artist Zilia Sánchez (b. 1926, Havana – lives and works in San Juan). The exhibition features over 40 works from the early 1950s to the present, including paintings, works on paper, shaped canvases, sculptural pieces, graphic illustrations, and ephemera.

Zilia Sánchez, Detail of Troyanas (Trojan Women), 1984. Acrylic on stretched canvas, 54 × 95 3/8× 11 1/4 in., Compañía de Turismo de Puerto Rico, San Juan. Photo: Rhiannon Newman

The retrospective traces Sánchez’s artistic journey from her early days in Cuba to her extended travels in Europe in the 1950s and residence in New York in the 1960s, and finally her move to Puerto Rico, where she has lived and worked since the early 1970s.

Zilia Sánchez: Soy Isla is accompanied by a major publication and newly commissioned artist’s documentary about her life and practice.

The presentation of Zilia Sánchez: Soy Isla (I Am an Island) at El Museo del Barrio is organized by The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC., and supported by The Jacques & Natasha Gelman Foundation and TheIsabel and Agustín Coppel Collection, with additional support from Galerie Lelong & Co.

(Top L-R): Zilia Sánchez, Troyanas (Trojan Women), polyptych, from the series Módulos infinitos (Infinite Modules), 1967. Acrylic on stretched canvas, 71 3/4 × 54 × 9 1/2 in., Collection of Laura Delaney Taft and John Taft, promised gift to Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Zilia Sánchez: Soy Isla (I Am an Island), curated by Dr. Vesela Sretenović, Phillips Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, will be on view from November 20, 2019 through March 22, 2020 at El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue at 105th Street, NYC.

Have you seen the beautifully restored El Teatro of El Museo del Barrio?  Formerly the Heckscher Theatre, it is the only theatre of its kind on the Upper East Side. It sports a proscenium arch stage and seating for 599. The Landmark quality interior also is home to a series of 30-foot murals and stained glass roundels. The theatre, which was the site for a special tribute to Tito Puente during the 39th Annual GRAMMY awards, is now part of the NYC Historical Music Trail.

El Teatro at El Museo del Barrio

Now you can give the gift of a seat in the historic theatre. Your gift will go toward the care of this East Harlem gem and its programming. You will also be supporting the Museum’s efforts to make theater and performing arts available and accessible. Purchase a seat Here.

Turning the page with a view toward the Holidays, tickets are now on sale for “A Very Merry Barrio Holiday” ~ a comedy show at El Museo del Barrio in December.