PRESS
Dominican York Proyecto GRAFICA’s Critical Trajectories
Essay by Maja Horn, Assistant Professor, Department of Spanish and Latin American Cultures, Barnard College.
Nonetheless, the experience and success of the Dominican York Proyecto GRAFICA strongly suggests how the form of the collective, which can sound anachronistic, evocative of past times and of failed social experiments, can be relevant today, effectively allowing these Dominican artists to reach beyond the limits that they often encounter in the contemporary art world. [...]
Essay by Paula Gómez Jorge, Art Historian, Critic and Curator.
The reflection about national identity that springs in a unique form in the space of diasporas is re-evaluated through the eyes of these artists. The approaches exposed in the Here & There portfolio lead us to recognize one of the most interesting aspects in the daily existence of the immigrant: the revival of the sense of belonging, the duality that comes from living in one geography but feeling a part of another, finally surrendering to the integration of both in a dynamic transcultural dialogue. [...]
Manifestaciones: Expressions of Dominicanidad in Nueva York
Essay by E. Carmen Ramos, Independent Art Curator
Dominican artists based in the United States would come of age without a dedicated visual arts institution of their own. By the 1990s, they would also mature in a post-multicultural artistic scene less devoted to culturally specific exhibitions. Dominican-American artists, however, did participate in the artistic scene in New York City and elsewhere, exhibiting their works at key Latino cultural institutions such as the Cayman Gallery (1974–1984), the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (1985–1991), and El Museo del Barrio (founded 1969), among many others. Yet, unlike artists from other Latino cultural groups, Dominican artists made inroads as individuals. [...]
DOMINICAN YORK: DISPLACEMENT AND IDENTITY
Essay by Susana Torruella Leval, Director Emerita of El Museo del Barrio
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“I live between worlds”. “I don’t belong anywhere”.
“I belong in either place”. “I juggle both worlds.”
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Anyone who has left their country to live in the U.S. recognizes these thoughts. Displacement, fragmentation, guilt, anxiety, an occasional sense of achievement and acceptance — members of any diaspora community know these feelings, and the emotional toll they take. [...]
Resilience and Vibrancy Rule
Essay by Betty Wilde-Biasiny, M.F.A.Professor, SUNY Empire State College Metropolitan Region, New York City
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The Uptown Print Portfolio by Dominican York Proyecto GRAFICA (DYPG) is a creative artists’ project comprising eight two-color prints--either screen print, relief, or both--made by this collective of Dominican-American printmakers. The project description, colophon, and credits accompany the portfolio, along with this curatorial statement on the creative aspects of the prints and their origins. Held from May 30 to June 27, 2015 in upper Manhattan, the project incorporated numerous community-based activities as well as a print exhibition. In artist-run workshops, the participants made prints alongside the artists who created this provocative body of work. [...]



