Bowdoin Class Organizes New Exhibition

On January 19 the Bowdoin College Museum of Art opened Andean Modernities / Contemporary Art: Cultural Transformation in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia in the Becker Gallery. The exhibition brings together work by five contemporary Latin American artists—Adrián Balseca, Juan José Barboza-Gubo, Fidel Carrillo, Mayu Mohanna, and Sergio Urday—to understand the tensions between past and present, Indigenous and Western, and tradition and modernity that characterize Andean culture today. The exhibition was co-curated with Carolyn Wolfenzon Niego, Associate Professor in Bowdoin’s Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the fifteen students in her Fall 2022 class “The Modern Worldview of the Andes: Art, Literature, Architecture, and the Environment.”

Over the course of the semester, students worked with BCMA curator Casey Braun to realize the project. On their first visit to the Museum, students viewed work from the Andes held in the Museum’s collection. They were also able to meet with three contemporary Andean artists via Zoom: Ecuadorian interdisciplinary artist Adrián Balseca; Peruvian painter, sculptor, and photographer Juan José Barboza-Gubo; and Peruvian photojournalist Fidel Carrillo. Each artist shared a project that resonated with overarching themes of the class, such as religion, migration, and environmentalism, showcasing the diverse ways that visual artists have responded to the unique history of the Andean region. These presentations allowed the students to pose questions directly to the artists and draw connections between their artworks and the texts and films students engaged with in class. During subsequent working sessions with Casey, the group considered pieces by additional artists, workshopped label drafts, and brainstormed the layout of the exhibition.

Visitors can learn more about the exhibition through upcoming public programs. On Thursday, February 23, student co-curators Julia Lyne ’23, Leif Maynard ’23, and Alexandria Pizzino ’23 and Professor Carolyn Wolfenzon Niego will provide a tour of the exhibition. On Thursday, March 2, Adrián Balseca will present a virtual artist talk focused on his research into the history of rubber extraction in the Amazon, including his project The Skin of Labour, which is on view in the exhibition and was recently acquired for the Museum’s collection.

Andean Modernities / Contemporary Art: Cultural Transformation in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia will be open through March 5, 2023 in the Becker Gallery. It was co-curated by Carolyn Wolfenzon Niego and students Boris Ardemasov ’23, Miles Berry ’25, Zane Bookbinder ’24, Ivana Gutiérrez’23, Clara Jergins ’24, Coltrane Joseph ’23, Anna Kelly ’24, Julia Lyne ’23, Leif Maynard ’23, Peyton Mulhern ’23, Vanny Nelson ’23, Charlie O’Brien ’23, Alexandria Pizzino ’23, Dyana Sanaycela ’24, and Tanner Thomas ’23.

 

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Cassandra (Casey) Braun, Curator
Bowdoin College Museum of Art

 

Image: Student co-curators workshopping potential gallery layouts in the Museum’s Zuckert Seminar Room. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Wolfenzon Niego.