Press Releases

February 17, 2000
"Empty Spaces" Installation Art by Juana Valdes at Southampton College

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Cuban-American artist Juana Valdes will create an installation of interlaced threads resembling huge spider webs in the Avram Gallery and outside on the grounds of Southampton College of Long Island University. The show, entitled "Empty Spaces," will be on view March 13 through April 21.

The huge webs are designed to evoke an ?active attitude of reflection? on the space they occupy. Outside they are made of cotton fibers that expand in the landscape and are incorporated into nature and its continuous process of recycling. Inside, the webs are made of artificial materials and confined to the crevices, corners, and ceilings of the gallery space. Natural daylight and architecture are integral to the final visual work, as the uninterrupted thread circumscribes and marks a route in space.

Valdes, who left Cuba as a young child, brings many of her life experiences to her work. "My art condenses and reconfigures the many experiences that have formed the person I am today", she says. "An interrupted childhood, leaving Cuba as a young child, the immigration/integration into American culture, growing up in a Catholic Hispanic Community, and the migration north to New York to complete my arts education; these experiences have left an imprint on my personal life and my artistic vision. These circumstances have transformed the way I perceive the world around me."

For Valdes, the physical context of her art is as important as the socio-historical context. "My work centers on the shifting field of the familiar and the mixing and colliding of expectations", she says. She has exhibited widely in group and solo shows including Hanging by a Thread at the Hudson River Museum and a one person show YUCA, at Miami Dade Community College, InterAmerican Gallery, 1998. She has lectured at colleges as well as curated and exhibited the works of artists in alternative spaces and new venues in New York City.

Presently residing in New York City, Juana Valdes completed her M.F.A. in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in 1993, after receiving her B.F.A. in Sculpture at Parsons School of Design. In 1995, she was awarded the Cosby Fellowship to attend Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her other awards include a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 1998 and from the P.S. I Contemporary Art Center in 1997.

This exhibition is funded by grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Town of Southampton. An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, March 15 from 4 - 6 p.m. As part of the College's effort to promote awareness of innovative, contemporary art forms, the exhibit and reception are free and open to the public. The Avram Family Gallery is open to the public Monday to Friday from 12-5 p.m., and by appointment. For information, call gallery director Beth Giles at (631) 287-8234.