Presented as part of La Residencia

Curated by Natalia Viera Salgado

Las Carpetas looks at the bureaucratic residue of a 40-year-long secret surveillance program  that aimed to destroy the Puerto Rican Independence Movement. Through still-lives, archival appropriation, and investigation, Christopher Gregory-Rivera provides a counter-history to the way many understand this period of time and its aftermath.  By rescuing, displaying, and photographing the contents of FBI files, Las Carpetas questions what forces have control over what and how we remember.

La Residencia is a co-located residency program in partnership with Pública. A cultural space in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Pública aims to provide a platform for local and international artists to strengthen relationships between Puerto Rico and a global audience. Over the course of eighteen months, Pública Co-Director Natalia Viera Salgado will serve as Abrons’ 2020-21 Curatorial Resident and will support the development of projects at Abrons and Pública.

Christopher Gregory-Rivera is a Puerto Rican artist based in New York City. His work is particularly interested in rescuing historical narratives around power and colonialism. He has lectured at the International Center of Photography in New York and his work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. He has been shown in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Netherlands.

Natalia Viera Salgado is a Puerto Rican independent curator and curatorial consultant based in New York City. She is also the co-founder of :Pública Espacio Cultural, an independent art space in Alto del Cabro, Santurce Puerto Rico. Her art historical research focuses on contemporary art in relation to decolonial practices, architecture, social and environmental justice, and new media with a keen interest in hybrid and interdisciplinary projects. She has worked at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, collaborated with design studio División de Diseño (Puerto Rico), worked at El Museo de Barrio (New York, NY), Art in General (Brooklyn, New York), Socrates Sculpture Park (Queens, New York) and The Nathan Cummings Foundation (New York). Viera is a founding member of Colectivo se habla español, a collective working on artistic and social projects that expand the limits of language while addressing migration, identity, human rights, and memory. Viera holds a MA in Curatorial Practice from the School of Visual Arts (NYC).

Exhibition Date: January 14, 2021 - March 14, 2021 

Wear a mask over your mouth AND nose at all times.

Maintain 6 feet of physical distance from others at all times.

In accordance with public health guidelines, we are welcoming 2 visitors at a time in the gallery. Reserve your appointment. Appointments are not required, but are highly recommended. 

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