OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA?
2022 | Ferrin Contemporary | North Adams, MA
Our America/Whose America? Is a “call and response” exhibition between contemporary artists and historic ceramic objects. View the historic collection here.
Vejigante Mask
2022
hand built porcelain
underglaze, glaze, 6 x 8 x 10”
Pedro Albizu Compos Plate
2022
porcelain plate (thrown by Viola Quiles), underglaze, glaze,
9 x 9 x 1.5”
Our America/Whose America? asks, how are we redefining power structures? Who is retelling history, and through what lens?
Leonardo Quiles (b.1971, Brooklyn, NY) creates illustrations, comics, and objects centered on the visual narrative of the postcolonial Latinx experience. Quiles considers his work a form of resistance against the totalitarian suppression of ethnic diversity in the US and its colonies. His interest in the social-political effects of cultural alienation and race politics feeds the images he uses. Through examining his own lived experience and that of friends and family, Quiles deftly narrates the abandonment of one’s ethnicity for the dominant culture.
Leonardo Quiles studied at Parsons School of Design and received his MFA from the renowned illustration department at Hartford Art School. His work has been included in exhibitions in New York, San Francisco, and locally at Stockbridge’s Norman Rockwell Museum. His work for the MTA’s Arts and Transit program has been seen on subways in and around New York City. His debut graphic novel as author/illustrator will be published in the Spring of 2024 by Macmillan Publishers. Leonardo currently lives and works in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.
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