Henrique Faria New York is proud to present two concurrent exhibitions featuring Tarsila do Amaral and Jesús “Bubu” Negrón, two artists who, although born almost a century apart, address in their works similar issues about race, diversity and inclusion. The indigenous local populations in their respective countries play a pivotal role in the artists’ inspiration, especially those with pasts marked by colonial conquests and slavery.  By honoring the everyday man and woman and respecting their traditions and popular culture such as carnivals, markets and craftmanship, dialogues are initiated, barriers lowered, and the slow progress of integration is pushed in the right direction.

Tarsila do Amaral (1886-1973) is considered one of the most important Brazilian painters of the last century. Together with Candido Portinari, Alfredo Volpi and Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, she is credited with bringing modernism to her country. In 1923 she first painted the controversial work titled “A Negra” depicting a black woman symbolizing fertility, matriarchy and slavery. “As many scholars have noted, the motif is singularly iconic” wrote Professor Irene Small in the Tarsila do Amaral Cannibalizing Modernism exhibition catalogue, where “cannibalizing” refers to the Anthropophagic Manifesto written by Oswald de Andrade, Tarsila’s second husband. Anthropophagy being the symbolic consuming and transforming of European art styles to something distinctly Brazilian. This subject of “A Negra” remained an obsession throughout the artist’s life as she grappled with her own understanding of racial disparity and perhaps explains why this version from 1940, on solo exhibit in the back gallery, remains unfinished, just like racial equality.

Jesús “Bubu” Negrón (b. 1975) is a Puerto Rican artist and as art historian Alexandra Schoolman writes “is deeply connected to his island’s heritage, histories and communities. Through his socially engaged practice, he has forged a creative career with projects that directly involve his fellow islanders and honor their stories, creating bridges between the past and present day.”  Motivated by the alarming uncertainly of our current times, the artist has created a special installation for the exhibition featuring an assemblage of flame painted tires burning symbolically for Black Lives Matter and racial justice, presaging the inevitable continued increase of conflicts and strife if the progress of integration and defense of democracy against corruption and authoritarianism is stalled.