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Entre Rios y Montañas, 2018

Solo exhibition
Opening reception: April 27, 6 - 9pm.
Artist talk during opening reception at 6pm.

April 27 - May 27, 2018.
Annex Gallery, Chicago, IL
1821 W Hubbard, Suite 302

Spudnik Press Cooperative is pleased to present Entre Rios y Montañas (Between Rivers and Mountains), a solo exhibition featuring new work by Chicago-based artist Jonathan Herrera.

The work featured in Entre Rios y Montañas stems from Herrera’s deep interest and continued investigation of the relationships between collective memory and historical instances of state-sponsored violence and trauma inflicted on politicized bodies. Often the victims of these crimes, or rather their bodies that disappear, leave behind stories not in words but in gesture. Trails of clothing are found in the deserts between borders as they get stuck on fences with barbed wire or wash up onto shores of beaches. These garments are sometimes attached to lifeless bodies while others manage to claim autonomy from the flesh.

Through these collographs, akin to rubbings, Herrera explores the connection between clothing and the body, as well as the relationship between forensic evidence and items of personal significance. By employing this print-based process, Herrera partakes in an act of remembrance as he produces tracings and impression of clothing left behind. His harsh, and almost violent, treatment of the objects carries forth into the artwork’s final presentation. Ultimately, the objects of clothing rendered in Herrera’s work are declarations unto themselves, left behind by bodies to evoke lived experiences.

Querida Presencia, 2018

Solo exhibition
Opening reception: May 10, 6 - 9pm.

May 10 - July 1, 2018
Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
506 W Michigan Street, 55802

The work in Querida Presencia explores various relationships between collective memory and historical instances of state-sponsored violence and trauma inflicted on politicized bodies. Bodies become politicized by either attempting to dislodge themselves from their dispossessed condition or by their cultural identities opposing a dominant status quo. Within a Latin American historical framework, Herrera constructs print-based objects, installations, and environments that echo lived experiences of those who are no longer with us. Print-based processes translate the content through symbolically revealing the act of remembering in producing tracings and impressions. Slicing open wounds into wood, burning the surface of lithostone with acid, and the crushing of ink on paper under immense pressure, re-animates acts of violence that carries through an art-object’s final presentation.

Epicenter Emerging Artist Fellow, 2018

The Frontier Fellowship provides creative professionals the opportunity to live and work with Epicenter in Green River, Utah (pop. 952), for two to eight weeks. From this rural place and in the context of the frontier, Fellows generate new work that is informed by the residents of Green River and the surrounding desert landscape. Epicenter, a design studio instigating positive change through community-based projects and programs, facilitates Fellowships throughout the year. Epicenter encourages applications regardless of applicant’s background, focus, or specialty. The Fellowship is open to artists, chefs, designers, explorers, folklorists, geologists, musicians, and more. Epicenter has hosted over 50 artists and collaboratives through the Frontier Fellowship.

JONATHAN HERRERA STUDIO