María Elena Ortiz will provide a synopsis of her latest exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists since 1940. This exhibition explores the history of surrealism in the Caribbean in connections to the Afrosurreal in the US. Inspired by the writings of Suzanne Césaire, Surrealism and Us presents over 60 artists working across a range of media including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, and video. Surrealism and Us challenges the mainstream narrative of modernity, showing how Caribbean and Black artists engage with a modern avant-garde to reflect on the Black experience, post-colonial conditions, and African diasporic religions.
Please join us for a reception following the lecture.
María Elena Ortiz holds an MA in Curatorial Practice from the California College of the Arts. Since 2022, she has served as Curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Previously, she was a curator at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), where she spearheaded the Caribbean Cultural Institute (CCI). At PAMM, Ortiz organized several projects including Allied with Power: African and African Diaspora Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Art Collection (2020); The Other Side of Now: Foresight in Contemporary Caribbean Art (2019); Latinx Art Sessions (2019); william cordova: now’s the time (2018); Beatriz Santiago Muñoz: A Universe of Fragile Mirrors (2016); Ulla von Brandenburg: It Has a Golden Sun and an Elderly Grey Moon (2017); Firelei Báez: Bloodlines (2015); and Carlos Motta: Histories for the Future (2016). Her writing has been published globally. A recipient of the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) and Independent Curators International (ICI) Travel Award for Central America and the Caribbean, Ortiz’s curatorial practice is informed by the connections of Latinx, Latin American, and Black communities in the US and the Caribbean.
Co-sponsors: Archiving Black América initiative of the LLILAS Benson and Center for Latin American Visual Studies (CLAVIS).