On the top floor of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum‘s Gundlach Building, an expansive collection by 58 artists is showcased in Let Us Gather In a Flourishing Way. This remarkable exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of contemporary Latinx painting, fostering an engaging conversation among artists from diverse backgrounds, experiences, identities, languages, and creative media.
Let Us Gather In a Flourishing Way is a significant exhibition that has been meticulously developed over several years. Curator Andrea Alvarez has been the visionary and driving force behind the project, dedicating extensive time to research and collaborating intimately with each artist to perfect every aspect of the exhibition.
The exhibition’s title references a poem by Juan Felipe Herrera, a former U.S. poet laureate. The poem, like the exhibition, celebrates community and cultural fusion, blending English and Spanish with vivid imagery of nature. Herrera writes:
cielo de calor and wisdom to meet us
where we toil siempre
in the garden of our struggle and joy
let us offer our hearts a saludar our águila rising
freedom
The exhibition mirrors the poem’s rhythm in its spatial design, with Herrera’s verses welcoming visitors at each entrance and throughout the galleries, setting the tone and context for the experience.
Though organized into seven themes, Alvarez emphasizes the exhibition’s fluidity, suggesting that even if rearranged, the collection would still maintain its coherence. During a walkthrough, it was evident that space played a crucial role in the viewing experience, allowing visitors to interact with the art on their own terms, much like the overall theme of gathering and encouraging open conversation.
Moises Salazar Tlatenchi’s “Cruising Queens” features a boat with five faceless figures and an American flag navigating icy waters. The figures, adorned in powdered wigs and tricorne hats reminiscent of 18th-century America, are surrounded by a glittery, lavender crocheted frame. This glamorous presentation, along with the presence of brown figures, challenges traditional American history. It is part of the New Histories section, which focuses on retelling personal, cultural, and global narratives.
Visitors might also notice Eamon Ore-Giron’s tessellated abstractions in “Talking Shit with Ilapa (variation I),” Guadalupe Maravilla’s mixed-media techniques in “Pupusa Retablo,” and Firelei Báez’s vibrant floral portraits in “Mawu-Lisa (I build my language out of rocks).” Known for dismantling colonial themes, Báez references the transatlantic slave trade and the deity Mawu-Lisa, a key figure in the Fon people’s culture in West Africa, who were forcibly taken to the Caribbean.
The section Bodies & Figures highlights “representations of and by marginalized people, considering the importance of the body, and who is or isn’t seen in an image,” as noted in the catalog. One featured work is Salomón Huerta‘s triptych of untitled canvases. The absence of human figures in his paintings provides an intimate portrayal of the artist’s father.
The museum label explains, “Huerta’s father protected the family in their home in Ramona Gardens, a violent housing project in East Los Angeles. At night, he would set his .38-caliber revolver on the bedside table and ask Huerta to bring him a snack—often a concha or a glass of milk.” Defying traditional portraiture expectations, the artist creates a deeply tender, human-centered piece without depicting a body.
The exhibition Let Us Gather In a Flourishing Way also explores how identity and place influence one another. Alfonso Gonzalez Jr., an artist from Los Angeles, delves into the visual language of signage, a technique inherited from his father’s career in commercial sign painting. In “Abogados Tierra Caliente (Billboard),” Gonzalez explores the connection between local landscapes and personal identity, highlighting the interplay between public commercial objects, personal portraits, and the museum environment.
Yvette Mayorga, based in Chicago, presents a striking pink composition, “The Brunette Latinx Self Portrait After Francois Boucher’s ‘The Brunette Odalisque’ c. 1745,” as part of the Pinturx collection. This group focuses on “contemporary Latinx approaches to traditional painting genres like still life and portraiture.” Mayorga’s unique technique of piping acrylic paint addresses themes of labor, femininity, and memory, offering a fresh take on portraiture and nodding to Baroque and Rococo styles.
Also featured in this collection of nontraditional methods are artists like Sarah Zapata, whose textile columns made from handwoven cloth and fibers convey instability—a reflection of current times. Narsiso Martinez contributes “Checker Leading the Crowd,” using charcoal on his signature cardboard produce box background to draw attention to labor issues.
In a central room of the exhibition, Patrick Martinez’s “Promised Land” spans 16 feet, evoking a sweeping landscape view. His mixed-media work combines acrylic, neon, stucco, spray paint, and ceramic tile. Martinez reflects on his native Los Angeles and the illusion of “paradise” amidst a shifting cultural landscape impacted by gentrification and economic challenges. The piece is part of the Land/tierra section, which explores “Latinx approaches to landscape and the built environment, considering land and tierra and their rapid change.”
Overall, this innovative exhibition brings together a diverse range of dialogues, media, backgrounds, and experiences. The complexity of the Caribbean and Latin American diaspora is celebrated, with each artist maintaining their individuality and resisting a simplified identity. Let Us Gather In a Flourishing Way highlights contrasts and connections, offering a necessary counterbalance to division.
The exhibition is open until September 6, after which it will travel to the Des Moines Art Center, the Phoenix Art Museum, and the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. Accompanying public programs include workshops, artist talks, and tours with poet Juan Felipe Herrera, with events listed on the museum’s website.
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