Page 214 - The 60.Venice Biennial & MoMA issue of WOA Contemporary Art magazine

WORLD-CLASS ART

DANIEL LIND-RAMOS:
EL VIEJO GRIOT

UNA HISTORIA DE TODOS NOSOTROS

MoMA PS1 presents the largest museum exhibition to date of
the work of Daniel Lind-Ramos (b. 1953, Loíza, Puerto Rico). The
presentation showcases more than 10 large-scale works that
weave together the artist’s multi-layered practice, including
many new or never previously seen works. Lind-Ramos uses
found and gifted objects of personal, communal, and regional
significance - such as debris, decorative objects, and everyday
tools - to produce meticulously detailed assemblages that explore
the traditions and histories of Afro-descendant communities in
Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and around the world.
Armario de la Memoria. 2012. Assemblage. 108 × 65 × 36 inches (274.3 × 165.1 ×
91.4 centimeters). Photo: Pierre Le Hors. . Pick, shovel, machetes, steel, palm tree
Figura Emisaria. 2020. Steel, palm tree branches, dried coconuts, branches, palm trunks, dried coconuts, TV monitor, palm tree branches, DVD player, wood panel,
tree trunks, wood panels, burlap, concrete blocks, glass, aluminum, fabric, lights, and fabric.. Photo: Raquel Perez-Puig
108 × 60 × 47 in. (274.3 × 152.4 × 119.4 cm.) Photo: Pierre Le Hors
Featuring works that reveal the fast-disappearing local
traditions of agriculture, fishing, cooking, and carnival
alongside the landmark sculptures that examine the
repercussions of Hurricane Maria in 2017, the exhibition will
culminate with several large-scale works made within the last
year that address the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on
local communities.
Borrowing its title from a character in Loíza’s annual Fiestas de
Santiago Apóstol responsible for interpreting the town’s past
and present, El Viejo Griot - Una historia de todos nosotros
(The Elder Storyteller - A Story of All of Us) considers Lind-
Ramos’s role as artist and narrator. Combining materials the
artist collected after the hurricane with items given to him by
friends and neighbors, many of Lind-Ramos’s works embody
features of the storm - such as wind and lightning - while also
referencing how communities in Puerto Rico came together
in its aftermath. Within the mythology he presents in the
exhibition, Lind-Ramos foregrounds communities committed
to the survival and sustenance of Afro-Taíno traditions and
people on the Puerto Rican archipelago.
Daniel Lind-Ramos: El Viejo Griot - Una historia de todos nosotros
is co-organized by Kate Fowle, guest curator, and Ruba Katrib,
Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, MoMA PS1, with Elena
Ketelsen González, Assistant Curator, MoMA PS1.

214 WORLD of ART