August 22-October 7, 2016

Curatorial Practice Gallery

Activation and Activism: Portrayals of Protest

Opening: September 16th 6:30pm

Curator: Colette Alhabahbeh-Mello and Meg Kaplan-Noach

Artist: Maricel Ruiz

Activation and Activism: Portrayals of Protests

Protests, civil disobedience and activism is as American Annalist apple pie.  The United States was founded on civil disobedience.  We owe our civil rights, child labor laws, and the 40-hour workweek to activism. such as the Arab Spring protests in the Middle East, the Umbrella Revolution in China and Black Lives Maricel Ruiz has activated the gallery space with recent paintings and collages that portray contemporary  . such as the Arab Spring protests in the Middle East, the Umbrella Revolution in China and Black Lives Matters movement in the United States.  Maricel’s collages and painting capture the emotion, chaos and struggles that these movements, protests, civil disobedience and sometime riots encapsulate. We know when artists observe the world they present their viewpoints to us, society. It is also undeniable that with some issues this practice manifests a transformation to activism, even if it remains passive. Maricel’s awareness to recent protests has in turn, further raised our social consciousness too. This gallery is wrapped in activation and activism. Maricel is an MFA student at Florida International University.  She is from South Florida and has recently exhibited at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami and Illustrate Gallery in Fort Lauderdale.  Colette Alhabahbeh-Mello and Meg Kaplan-Noach curated the exhibition. Both curators are Florida International University MFA Curatorial Practice students.

To learn more about Maricel Ruiz click, here.