Reclamation
June 30- August 11, 2023 | Sean Kelly Gallery , New York
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura and Cornelia Stokes
Artists: Anindita Dutta, Donald Guevara, Ashanté Kindle, Athena Quispe, Edgar Serrano, and Capt. James Stovall V
NXTHVN and Sean Kelly are proud to present RECLAMATION, a group exhibition featuring works that embody the multiplicities of human experience through painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, installation, and performance.
NOT FOR SALE
March – May 2023 | NXTHVN
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura and Cornelia Stokes
Artists: Anthony Akinbola, LaKela Brown, David Hammons, Lucia Hierro, Arthur Jafa, Emmanuel Massillon, and Sable Elyse Smith
A tribute to Black and Brown communities, Not For Sale explores the relationship between culture, consumerism, and community and how these connections inform which objects and materials are collectively held as valuable.
THE SKY MADE ME A REALITY
March 2022 | Processa
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura
Rafaella Braga | Solo Exhibition
Viewing the sky as a place to find comfort wherever she is in the world, Braga meshes the dream and fantasy world with that of reality in her paintings.
CYBER HEALING
September 4 – December 1, 2020 | The Latinx Project at NYU
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura
Artists: Fannie Sosa, Florencia Escudero, Moréna Espiritual, Chloe Luisa Piñero, Gina Goico, and Catherine Feliz
CYBER HEALING explores how Latinx and Afro-Latinx artists heal via feminine energy and the digital space.
The Living Room Kitchen
February – April 2020 | The Andrew Freedman Home
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura
Artists: Albany Andaluz, Alizé Santana, Azikiwe Mohammed, Dana Davenport, Estelle Maisonett, Jessica Spence, John Rivas, Mónica Hernández, Raelis Vasquez, Samantha Box, and Shaira Chaer
Taking place in the former living room, now gallery, of the Andrew Freedman home, The Living Room Kitchen, is an exhibition which centers around the spaces of gathering in a home. With works by 11 local artists of color, the exhibition dissects how these rooms house experiences of celebration, consumption, and family rituals.
Image: Exhibition Installation View
The Update
January – February 2020 | The Longwood Gallery
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura
Artists: Audreamia Wardlow, Dillon Gardner, Estelle Maisonett, Mark Malave, Monica Flores, Patrick Alston, Rocio Marie Cabrera, Ron Baker, Sorinn Lillico, and Stanley Steel
The Update presents works by Bronx artists of now who are telling their story and the street narratives of the borough all while commemorating the rich history behind them. Consisting of ten artists under thirty, The Update is defining the next generation of Bronx artists by highlighting local art collectives, underground nightlife, and artist networks who are creating experimental practices.
Image: Works by Ron Baker
The Radical Act of Taking Up Space
November 2019 – January 2020 | Vis Arts Maryland
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura with guidance from Mentoring Curator Larry Ossei-Mensah
Artists: Devin Allen, Murjoni Merriweather, Moréna Espiritual, Charles Johnson, Khari Johnson Ricks, Tanya Garcia, Samantha Vassor and Amani Lewis
The Radical Act of Taking Up Space, examines how eight young artists of color are redefining what taking up space means in today’s contemporary society.
Image: Installation View
Double Trouble
November 2019 – January 2020| Ross + Kramer Gallery
Curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Curatorial Assistance by Kiara Cristina Ventura
Artists February James and John Rivas were brought together by curator Larry Ossei-Mensah, who links the two based on their proclivity for rendering the figure in a way that cultivates a dialogue about identity, memory, family trauma, and negating stereotypes.
Image: Exhibition Installation View – Collaborative works by John Rivas and February James
PARALLELS AND PERIPHERIES: Migration and Mobility
September – October 2019 | VisArts Rockville, Maryland
Curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah, 2019 VisArts Mentoring Curator, Curatorial Assistance by Kiara Cristina Ventura, 2019 Mentee for VisArts Emerging Curator Program
Artists: Ferguson Amo, Amna Asghar, Lizania Cruz, Kim Dacres, Morel Doucet, Oasa DuVerney, Brendan Fernandes, Olalekan Jeyifous, Ludovic Nkoth, Aram Han Sifuentes, Federico Solmi and Heeseop Yoon
PARALLELS AND PERIPHERIES investigates how artists make work that explores the narratives, myths, and memories that shape personal, political and societal understanding.
Image: Exhibition Installation View
BY US
June – August 2019 | Reparations.Club Los Angeles, California
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura
Artists: Jheyda McGarrell, Uzumaki Cepeda, Eilen Itzel Mena, Trazail Tucker, Shan Wallace, & Gozie Ojini
BY US features LA black and brown artists conveying and celebrating the act of communities of color simply being, whether it be in our happiness, healing, and/or the many forms of ourselves. Reparations.club is a community, retail, and gallery space curated by Blackness™ and POC.
Image: Exhibition Installation view, Rep.Club LA
STILL HERE
May – Aug 2019 | Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco
January – April 2020 | Penn State University | Digital Exhibition Available Here
Traveling Exhibition Curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Kiara Cristina Ventura, and Dexter Wimberly
Films by Larry Achiampong, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Third Horizon (Jason Fitzroy Jeffer), Carlos Javier Ortiz, Cinthia Marcelle, Melo-X, Helina Metaferia, and Joiri Minaya
Still Here explores stories of migration, displacement, and survival in films by eight artists that represent a spectrum of the African Diaspora.
Image: Installaview view at Penn State
FOR US
Spring 2018 | Bronx Art Space
Curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura
Artists: Jheyda McGarrell, Dana Davenport, Monica Hernandez, Caseena Karim, RAFiA Santana, Nicole Bello, Rocio Marie Cabrera, and Albany Andaluz
For Us aims to capture how the featured women artists of color are creating imagined worlds via aesthetic and fragments reflecting their reality
Image: Installation view, featuring work by Dana Davenport, Rocio Marie Cabrera, Monica Hernandez, and Albany Andaluz
AUTO-ORGANIZAR
November 2017 | Bronx, NY
Curated by Sofia Reeser del Rio, Curatorial Assistance by Kiara Cristina Ventura
In response to the lack of aid and Hurricane relief Puerto Rico received in 2017, Self-Organize / Auto-Organizar looks at works that challenges and reimagines the physical, emotional, and geographical boundaries of identity.
Image: Proyectos Sabrosos – performance
THE FUNERAL
October 2017 | Bronx, NY
a performance happening curated by Kiara Cristina Ventura with artist Writer’s Block
Tom Sachs’ Presidential Vampire Booth | Brooklyn Museum
July 2016 | Brooklyn, NY
Event Coordinated by Kiara Cristina Ventura
Ventura curated the DJing event for July 28th, 2016 where Tom Sachs’s Presidential Vampire Booth hosted No Vacancy Inn (Tremaine Emory and Acyde) and special guests Venus X and NY Theo (Theophilus London).
Kiara Ventura 