El Museo del Barrio Opens First Large-Scale Survey of Latinx Art

Editor's note:

A version of this article was originally published by El Museo del Barrio.

February 26, 2021

El Museo del Barrio, the first and leading museum in the country dedicated to preserving and presenting Latino art and culture, is pleased to reveal exhibition highlights for ESTAMOS BIEN LA TRIENAL 20/21, the museum’s first large-scale national survey of Latinx art. Curated by El Museo’s Chief Curator Rodrigo Moura, Curator Susanna V. Temkin, and Guest Curator and Artist Elia Alba, the exhibition is on view to the public from March 13 to September 26.

Following two years of research and studio visits by the curatorial team, ESTAMOS BIEN features the works of 42 Latinx artists and collectives from across the United States and Puerto Rico. Originally scheduled to coincide with the 2020 U.S. Census and the presidential election, La Trienal opens in El Museo’s galleries one year after the museum first closed due to the pandemic with works that reflect the current moment.

The exhibition centers on an intersectional approach to the concept of Latinx—the much-contested term that departs from binary understandings of U.S.-Latino identity through the adoption of the gender-neutral suffix X, distancing itself from rigid definitions to allow a nuanced, more inclusive understanding of identity. In ESTAMOS BIEN, Latinx serves as a meeting point rather than a singular definition, as the artists participating in the show represent diverse generations, genders, ethnic, and racial backgrounds, foregrounding Indigeneity, African and non-European heritages; gender nonconformity; and other multiplicities.

“Presenting a major survey of Latinx art today is not only urgent, it is also a great opportunity to continue proving its relevance nationally and globally”, says Moura.

To learn more about the exhibition and to register, please visit El Museo del Barrio's website.