Tuesday, April 16, 2019
5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
McKinney Conference Room, 111 Thayer Street
Please join Art at Watson for a conversation with local Latinx artists Patricia Figueroa, Andrea Pérez Bessin, and Joel Rosario Tapia. The evening will begin with a public conversation followed by a meet and greet with the artists alongside their artworks at the Watson Institute’s exhibition “LatinXpression: The Absorbing Nature of Line” curated by Judith Tolnick Champa and Raphael Díaz.
Patricia Figueroa is the Curator of the Iberian and Latin American Collections at the Brown University Library. Figueroa received her master’s degree in Library Science from Simmons College, master’s degree in International Relations from Boston University, and bachelor of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Andrea Pérez Bessin grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They moved to Rhode Island to attend Brown University where they honed their researching skills by acquiring a degree in Biology. On their last semester at Brown, they took an introductory visual arts course that inspired a change in their vocation. In December 2017 they finished their BFA in Printmaking under the attentive tutelage of Stephen Fisher. Their compulsive research skills are currently employed in the exploration and isolation of elements of Puerto Rican culture as well as thorough investigations of printmaking techniques. Andrea works and lives in Newport, RI.
Joel Rosario Tapia is an aboriginal urban artist of Puerto Rican descent. Born in Providence, RI, Tapia served two tours in Iraq with the US Army. He is the appointed chief of the Cibuco Bayamon Taino Tribe, a member of the Aboriginal Nations of America. Influenced by indigenous Taino and Hip Hop culture, his work recalls symbols and stories to keep the spirits alive. His unique visual exploration challenges the contemporary dilemma of identity in 2018 America.
Conversation Moderator:
Elizabeth Gray is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at Brown University and an affiliate of CLACS. Her research centers on contemporary Latin American literature, art, and activism.