CURATOR STATEMENT

In Roman Mythology, the nymph Echo falls in love with Narcissus, a beautiful youth who rejects her love and instead becomes infatuated with his own reflection. Echo was cursed to lose her speech yet eager to express her longing. She repeated Narcissus’ words until the repetition became a language of her own. Meanwhile, Narcissus beholds his own reflection, an image he failed to recognize as himself.

Untold Narratives - A Seductive Echo probes the connection between language and self-perception. The experiences of traversing spatial, temporal, and linguistic terrains often come with the imperative of adopting a borrowed tongue. The artists in this exhibition contend with the limits and potentials of language manifested in misinterpretation, abstraction, and slippages. Their works render distorted and fragmented expressions of the self as mediated by popular culture, new technologies, and experiences of isolation and displacement. As we attempt to navigate the images of ourselves through various paradigms of meaning-making, we utter Echo and Narcissus in one breath, with repetition and soliloquy.

Michelle Song is a freelance curator and writer. She is program manager at the OSUN Center for Human Rights and the Arts at Bard College. Song holds an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.

Opening

Wednesday, January 18th, 2023

Public Program

Wednesday, February 8th, 2023 | 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Culminating Celebration

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos

450 Grand Concourse at 149th St., Room C-190

Bronx, New York 10451 (718) 518-6728 longwood@bronxarts.org

The Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos is currently closed to the public until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Longwood Arts Project is the contemporary visual arts program of the Bronx Council on the Arts, with the mission to support artists and their work, especially emerging artists from underrepresented groups, such as people of color, the LGBT* community, and women. The Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos presents solo and group exhibitions of works of art produced in various media, through interdisciplinary practices that connect emerging artists, communities, and ideas within and beyond The Bronx.

Founded by visionary community leaders in 1962, The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) is a pioneer in advancing cultural equity in The Bronx. From our early beginnings as a presenter of affordable arts programming in select Bronx neighborhoods, we have grown into a cultural hub that serves the entire creative ecosystem of the borough. Our programs serve artists, the public, and the field at large by building connections, providing resources, and advocating for equitable practices. Then as now, we focus on supporting the work of underrepresented groups – especially artists of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Through this lens we offer affordable programs for seniors and youth, and provide direct services to over 1,500 artists and 250 community-based arts groups each year.

www.bronxarts.org

An integral part of Hostos Community College/CUNY since 1982, the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, which includes two state-of-the-art theaters of 900 and 360 seats each, a black box experimental theater, and a museum-grade art gallery, is a resource for students and faculty in addition to serving the cultural needs of South Bronx residents and neighboring communities. Recognized nationally as a leader in Latin and African-based programming, the Hostos Center creates performing and visual arts forums in which the diverse cultural heritages of its audiences are celebrated and cultivated. In meeting that objective, the Center is dedicated to the development of emerging artists and the creation of new work. www.hostoscenter.org

Longwood’s Youth Engagement Program, launched in 2018, is designed to engage Bronx youth with the rich visual arts scene that surrounds them. By providing gallery experiences they can relate to – and interactions with artists who reside in the same neighborhoods, share similar cultural identities, and even nations of origin – young people gain formative experiences of cultural engagement that last a lifetime.

Activities are free, age-appropriate, and created by professional teaching artists to foster critical thinking, interviewing and public speaking skills. If your organization, school, or group works with youth and would like to discuss scheduling a workshop or to arrange a visit, connect with us!