Jordany Genao | Espíritu de sabor

When

August 31 – October 13, 2024 All Day

Where

Glyndor Gallery

Price

Free

with admission to the grounds

Clockwise from bottom right corner: Jordany Genao, “veneration, veneracion, omatuma’sao”, 2024; “piel de culebra, snake skin, ori ura”, 2024; “sana, sana, colita de rana. si no te reencarnas hoy, te reencarnas manana”, 2024; “el futuro bohio (retrato de Ana Valerio y Genaro Augusto Valerio) [future home, (portrait of my grandparents Ana Valerio and Genaro Augusto Valerio)] Ubaradan Bohio”, 2024; “systema de el universo [system of the universe]”, 2024; “el cielo en la noche, night sky, kasakuda turey”, 2024. On view in “Espíritu de sabor” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen. Courtesy of Wave Hill.

Left to right: Jordany Genao, “veneration, veneracion, omatuma’sao”, 2024 and “piel de culebra, snake skin, ori ura”, 2024. On view in “Espíritu de sabor” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen. Courtesy of Wave Hill.

Jordany Genao, “el futuro bohio (retrato de Ana Valerio y Genaro Augusto Valerio) [future home, (portrait of my grandparents Ana Valerio and Genaro Augusto Valerio)] Ubaradan Bohio”, 2024. On view in “Espíritu de sabor” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen. Courtesy of Wave Hill.

Jordany Genao, “el cielo en la noche, night sky, kasakuda turey”, 2024. On view in “Espíritu de sabor” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen. Courtesy of Wave Hill.

Jordany Genao, “systema de el universo [system of the universe]”, 2024. On view in “Espíritu de sabor” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen. Courtesy of Wave Hill.

Jordany Genao, “sana, sana, colita de rana. si no te reencarnas hoy, te reencarnas manana”, 2024. On view in “Espíritu de sabor” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen. Courtesy of Wave Hill.

Jordany Genao, “muneca lime”, 2024. On view in “Espíritu de sabor” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen. Courtesy of Wave Hill.

Jordany Genao’s interdisciplinary practice is deeply rooted in the precolonial history of the islands of Boriken (Puerto Rico), Ayiti (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Kubanakan (Cuba). Their work is a unique exploration of the visual and theoretical connections between Indigenous Arawak-Taino cosmology, Caribbean botanical practices and queerness. Genao’s art is a profound tribute to nature and her wisdom, with a heavy emphasis on the relationships between land, history and culture. For the Arawak-Taino, the cemi (or zemi) deities and spirits represented natural elements. In the Sunporch exhibition Espíritu de sabor (Spirit of taste), Genao integrates clay, natural fibers, beads, leaves, shells, rock and other natural by-products to create two-dimensional and sculptural works that build on Taino belief systems. These works are not just symbols of the past, but vessels of a living continuum. Their materials serve as both an affirmation, and veneration of the ways the natural world intertwines with Arawak-Taino spirituality, ceremony and political power, inseparable from the universe.

Organized by Curator of Visual Arts Rachel Raphaela Gugelberger, the Sunroom Project Space provides an opportunity for emerging artists in the New York City area to develop and present a site-specific project as a solo exhibition. The 2024 applications were reviewed by a panel of arts professionals including Kiara Cristina Ventura, writer, curator and founder of the roving curatorial platform Processa; Jacq Groves, 2023 Sunroom Project Space interdisciplinary artist and educator; and Gugelberger.

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Jordany Genao

Jordany Genao

Jordany Genao is a Dominican interdisciplinary artist and educator based in Queens, NY (Lenapehoking). In their practice, they emphasize visual and theoretical connections between Arawak-Taino cosmology and ceramics, Caribbean plants and queerness. The space that nature occupies in Genao’s work is an affirmation of the ways in which it has traditionally been engaged to co-create homes, medicine and alternative realities. Their creative practice celebrates the life commitment of being closer to nature and using its wisdom to spotlight the multifaceted relationships between land, history and culture. Genao’s work has been presented in group exhibitions at Flux Factory, Queens, NY and Turley Gallery, Hudson, NY. They earned a BA from the School of Visual Arts and an MFA from Hunter College.
Learn more about the artist at jordanygenao.com.
Photo: Sekani Broughton (aka Abayomi).