Sol co-curated by Katie Avila Loughmiller and Gabriela Riveros opened at Genesis almost one year exactly to the date of our first show. Taking place in the warm month of July, we wanted a group exhibition to celebrate the sun, the heat and the summer. Poster artwork done by Debbie Sajnani.

 

Genesis is a gallery based on Milwaukee formally on Milwaukee Street (where Sol showcased) run by Randy Brown. Genesis is dedicated to creating an open and affirming environment for all artists. We exist to provide support and visibility for our local creative communities, and actively seek to develop diverse networks of makers and thought leaders for a better, more equitable Milwaukee.

 

For this show we also were excited to have a guest artist, Conchita Pineda, a refugee Venezuelan artist currently based in Barcelona, Spain. She is an interdisciplinary artist who works in sculpture, silk screen, and design. Pineda also has an apparel and jewelry brand called Match to be Happy. Pineda’s art is a product of reflections. Her process embraces the unexpected. Pineda intuitively creates based off her circumstances. Her artwork reflect her ever-changing life from city to city and project to project. She finds beauty in the unexpected-a minuscule moment in the immenseness of the universe, the randomness in our lives and the chances we get. Pineda challenges the art process by embracing the happy accidents and sudden ideas that propels art to take an unexpected turn. She explores the transformation of materials that happens over time. These ideas are embodied in her three playful matchsticks apart of her Serendipity series that celebrates random and chance in art making and life as “serendipitous” moments.

 

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How we (L.U.N.A) connected with Conchita Pineda:
 

Milwaukee operates on word of mouth, and we are very good at it. By this method one of L.U.N.A’s members, Gabriela Riveros, got to connect with Venezuelan artist and gallery owner of Gallery 448, Cesar Vasquez. She was thrilled to discover that he was representing Conchita Pineda-and the idea to bring in a guest artist was born . Vasquez and L.U.N.A both believe in making Latinx art accessible in Milwaukee, and uplifting artists and spaces through collaboration and cultural connections. By inviting Conchita Pineda to Sol, we work to acknowledge what is happening at our borders and beyond by giving visibility to displaced Latinx artists. We are proud to have Conchita Pineda a part of our Sol show.