Organized by El Museo del Barrio, Juan Francisco Elso: Por América investigates the brief yet significant career of the late Cuban artist Juan Francisco Elso (1956–1988), who emerged as a visual artist in the late 1970s and early 1980s before dying of leukemia at the age of 32. Elso, who was based in Havana, is associated with the first generation of artists born and educated in post-revolutionary Cuba. Por América is the first traveling survey of Elso’s work in the United States since the early 1990s, representing a rare opportunity for Arizona audiences to experience the artist’s dynamic and visceral creations.
![Juan Francisco Elso, Pájaro que vuela sobre América [Bird that Flies Over America], 1985. Carved wood, branches, wax, jute thread, and basket elements. Courtesy of Mr. Reynold C. & Dr. Marlene L. Kerr, Miami, Florida. Photo: Manu Sassoonian.](https://phxart.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Juan-Francisco-Elso-Pajaro-que-vuela-sobre-America-Bird-that-Flies-Over-America-1985_o2-scaled.jpg)
Fashioned from natural, organic materials such as mud, clay, straw, twigs, bark, and earth, Elso’s sculptures and installations examine the complexities of contemporary Cuban, Caribbean, and Latin American identities, which draw influence from Indigenous traditions, Afro-Caribbean religious beliefs, and the traumas of colonial oppression. The artist’s limited production, including plans for several unrealized works, reveal a more expansive understanding of the Americas, free from continental division and conventional ideas of state and nationhood.
Juan Francisco Elso with his artwork Caballo contra colibrí, c. 1987-88. Fondo Magali Lara / Elso Padilla, Centro de Documentación. Arkheia MUAC (UNAM-DiGAV) Photo: Cristina Lobeira.
In addition to presenting work by the late artist, Juan Francisco Elso: Por América showcases 45 artworks by a group of 30 multigenerational artists active in the Caribbean and throughout North, South, and Central America. Organized into several interrelated, thematic sections, the exhibition explores the intersections and parallel affinities present in Elso’s art and works by artists such as José Bedia, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Albert Chong, Graciela Iturbide, Glenn Ligon, Rogelio López Marin (GORY), Ana Mendieta, Senga Nengudi, Lorraine O’Grady, Gabriel Orozco, Marta María Pérez Bravo, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, and Reynier Leyva Novo, among others.
Luis Camnitzer, Canales, 1980. Typed document and map. Luis Camnitzer, New York and Alexander Gray Gallery, New York.
![Juan Francisco Elso, Corazon [Heart], 1983-1987. Clay. Courtesy of Rachel Weiss, New York. Photo: Chris Kendall.](https://phxart.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Juan-Francisco-Elso-Corazon-Heart-1983-87-clay-scaled.jpg)
Juan Francisco Elso: Por América is accompanied by a catalogue that is co-published by El Museo del Barrio and [NAME]. Edited by Olga Viso, the monograph will be available in March 2023 and offers the first comprehensive bilingual study dedicated to the artist, with contributions by Jimmie Durham, Graciela Iturbide, Erica Moiah James, Cuauhtémoc Medina, Rachel Weiss, and more.
Juan Francisco Elso, Corazon [Heart], 1983-1987. Clay. Courtesy of Rachel Weiss, New York. Photo: Chris Kendall.
Juan Francisco Elso: Por América is organized by El Museo del Barrio and guest curated by Olga Viso, Selig Family Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at Phoenix Art Museum and senior advisor at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, in collaboration with Susanna V. Temkin, curator at El Museo del Barrio. The exhibition is made possible thanks to major support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Commissions are made possible by VIA Art Fund and the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation. Its presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is made possible through the generosity of Partner Sponsors Sue and Bud Selig and Supporting Sponsors Men’s Arts Council, The Opatrny Family Foundation, the Virginia G. Piper Exhibition Endowment Fund, and the Joan Cremin Exhibition Endowment, with additional support from Kimpton Hotel Palomar.
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Phoenix Art Museum presents first major exhibition of work by Cuban artist Juan Francisco Elso in more than 30 years Mixed-reality installation at Phoenix Art Museum traces migration of endangered Monarch butterfly Phoenix Art Museum and ASU Art Museum explore artistic expression in times of crisis through new joint exhibition featuring contemporary art of Cuba
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