Full Description
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons (b. 1959) makes powerful work that holds and beholds the stories of historically silenced peoples and urges societal change. Her journey as an artist, teacher, and activist has taken her from Cuba through the United States, and her autobiographical compositions honor her Nigerian and Chinese ancestors while also facing the future. With an artistic practice that crosses boundaries, intertwines media-from photography to sculpture, film to performance-and references traditions and beliefs ranging from feminism to Santeria Campos-Pons's work is deeply layered and complex.
This volume, the first critical look at the artist's oeuvre in nearly two decades, surveys the concerns, materials, and places invoked throughout her forty-year career. Thoughtful essays explore her vibrant, arresting artwork, which confronts issues of agency and the construction of race and belonging and challenges us to reckon with these issues in our own lives.
Contents
Foreword - Timothy Potts and Anne Pasternak
Acknowledgments - Carmen Hermo
Preface: The Calling - Carmen Hermo, Mazie M. Harris, and Jenee-Daria Strand
Introduction: La Unica - Amalia Mesa-Bains
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold - Carmen Hermo
Rooted in Cuba and Connected to the World - Selene Wendt
"This, this, this, this, this": Photography in Pieces - Mazie M. Harris
Marking and Mapping: The Video Art Practice of Maria Magdalena
Campos-Pons - Phillip A. Townsend
Follow FeFa - Jenee-Daria Strand
Plates
Plate List
Further Reading
Index
