curatorial projects

CYBER HEALING

The Latinx Project at NYU

September 4 – December 1, 2020

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 Ventura

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

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 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 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 Ventura, 2019 Mentee for VisArts Emerging Curator Program

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 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 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 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 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 Ventura with artist Writer’s Block

Tom Sachs’ Presidential Vampire Booth | Brooklyn Museum

July 2016 | Brooklyn, NY

Event Coordinated by Kiara 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).


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