Havana Biennial Puts our Members on Display
Cuba hosts the 2024-25 Biennial, “15th Bienal de la Habana – Shared Horizons”, featuring artists Christine D’epiro Abbott and Karen Albanese Campbell on display from 15 November 2024 – 28 February 2025.
Abbott’s “Sunshine City” and Campbell’s “A Long Journey” were made in response to their March 2024 Cuba trip with other Columbus artists on the theme “On The Street Where I Live.” Both artists and Core Member Dave Pickard will travel to Cuba to visit the Taller Experimental de Gráfica de La Habana again. There they will see their work as part of the Biennial before the end of the month as well as participate in another short residency to create and make with Cuban printmakers and artists who work out of Taller Experimental de Gráfica de La Habana.
Christine writes about her work shown (above) “[it] merges views from my Columbus neighborhood with colors and textures found on a recent trip to Havana, Cuba. The resulting prints are vibrant and dreamlike, overlapping abstracted representations of two very different places. Cut holes and images of windows emphasize the perspective of an itinerant traveler. Repeated structures create a feeling of déjà vu. I wonder as I wander; what occurs beyond what I can see?”
Karen has her piece (shown above) displayed in the Biennial. Over the weeks she created this piece, she filled the studio with color and story, one that she shares with all who look at it. “A Long Journey” is inspired by the path most American families have traveled over generations to arrive at our current home. We are a nation of immigrants. This multi-panel print is building a bridge to tell a personal family origin story. My own family originated in Southern Italy and Sicily, but the story of how my ancestors arrived in Italy is lost. Art enables time-traveling to imaginatively fill in the blanks. This work is an artistic expression of unseen layers of time, traces of history, pathways across generations, and the deeply personal search for home.
We are so pleased for our Members to have this opportunity and are excited to see what they create and the stories they return with in turn! Safe travels to all and Happy Printing!