Memory Keepers

Press Release

Memory Keepers, an exhibition of new work and site-specific installations by artists Scherezade García and iliana emilia García that call together impressions of memory, movement, and home will be on view in the William Paterson University Galleries in the Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts on campus from January 31 through April 13, 2022. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and select Saturdays and Sundays (April 9, April 23, and May 1) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, February 16 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Memory is defined as the means by which “the mind stores and remembers information,” as well as “a recollection, something remembered from the past.” According to Alejandro Anreus, a William Paterson University professor of art and co-organizer of the exhibition, one of the roles of visual art since its earliest manifestations has been to “keep” memory. “Memory can be individual, communal, even national,” he says.

Contemporary artists Scherezade García and iliana emilia García, who served as co-organizers of the exhibition along with University Galleries director Casey Mathern, are keepers of memory through their work. These memories are both individual and communal, reflecting the places they come from (Dominican Republic, New York), the larger history of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, and the Latinx migration to the United States. Their art is never a literal reflection of these issues, but rather a poetic and expressive evocation. Working in painting, drawing, printmaking, installation, sculpture, and animation, the artists combine painterliness, the figure, and objects, and draw upon deep relationships with music, both classical and popular, as well as literature, both poetry and prose.

The exhibiting artists will present a bilingual artists’ talk on Thursday, February 24, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Professor Alejandro Anreus will present a bilingual curator’s tour on Wednesday, March 9, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Both tours will be presented synchronously online and in person in the Court Gallery. iliana emilia García and Scherezade García will return to William Paterson University to give the 2022 Tinker Foundation Latin American Studies Lecture on Wednesday, April 6 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., presented synchronously online and in person in the Cheng Library Auditorium.

Scherezade García works in painting, drawing, and installation, depicting mestizo figures while evoking the (Caribbean) sea and its perilous crossings. Utilizing a neo-baroque painterly language, the elements of her art reflect the consequences of colonization. Scherezade García was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1966. She holds an AAS in fine arts and illustration from Altos de Chavón/The School of Design, a BFA in illustration from Parsons The New School of Design, and an MFA in sculpture from City College of New York. She has exhibited widely in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean since 1990, and is currently an assistant professor of fine arts at the University of Texas, Austin.

iliana emilia García is a multimedia artist who creates mixed media drawings, sculptures, and installations where chairs, hearts, and boats are constant objects. Her visual language can be austere and minimal. Her chairs are symbols of home and storytelling, signifying place and culture. iliana emilia García was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1970. She holds an AAS in graphic design from Altos de Chavón/The School of Design, a BFA in communication design from Parsons The New School of Design, and is currently completing an MA in biography and memoir at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She has exhibited in the United States, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador.

Ethnomusicologist Danielle Brown, PhD, the creator of My People Tell Stories, will present a recital and arts education workshops on Thursday, March 24 in Shea Auditorium as part of a campus residency titled “The Cosmology of Caribbean Arts.” A storytelling performance will engage the audience in the ways that sound, memory, and spirit are foundational to understanding Caribbean arts. Brown will also present an arts education workshop guided by her principles of “Canon, People, Pedagogies (CPP)” for pre-service and in-service teachers from the region. Participants will learn the importance of representing Caribbean music in the classroom, not only for musical development, but also as a form of social justice.

A forthcoming, illustrated catalogue will feature essays by the artists and co-organizers, artist biographies, and an exhibition checklist. Memory Keepers is one of two exhibitions on view concurrently in the William Paterson University Galleries. Fashion is a Verb will be on view in the South and East Galleries from January 31 through May 6, 2022.

This exhibition is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Programs are also made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The William Paterson University Galleries are wheelchair-accessible. Large-print educational materials are available. For additional information, please call the William Paterson University Galleries at 973-720-2654.