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Wunabu
  • Art

Jordany Genao | Espíritu de sabor

When
All Day
Where
Glyndor Gallery
Wunabu
Jordany Genao, "Wunabu, Awaduli, Watu, Oniabo / Earth, Air, Fire, Water", 2023, ceramic, stretch mesh, tapioca pearls, glaze, rayon thread, cassava flour and ceramic decal. Courtesy of the artist.

Jordany Genao’s interdisciplinary practice is deeply rooted in the precolonial  history of the islands of Boriken (Puerto Rico), Ayiti (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Kubanakan (Cuba). Their work is a unique exploration of the visual and theoretical connections between Indigenous Arawak-Taino cosmology, Caribbean botanical practices and queerness. Genao’s art is a profound tribute to nature and her wisdom, with a heavy emphasis on the relationships between land, history and culture. For the Arawak-Taino, the cemi (or zemi) deities and spirits represented natural elements. In the Sunporch exhibition Espíritu de sabor (Spirit of taste), Genao integrates clay, natural fibers, beads, leaves, shells, rock and other natural by-products to create two-dimensional and sculptural works that build on Taino belief systems. These works are not just symbols of the past, but vessels of a living continuum. Their materials serve as both an affirmation, and veneration of the ways the natural world intertwines with Arawak-Taino spirituality, ceremony and political power, inseparable from the universe. 

Organized by Curator of Visual Arts Rachel Raphaela Gugelberger, the Sunroom Project Space provides an opportunity for emerging artists in the New York City area to develop and present a site-specific project as a solo exhibition. The 2024 applications were reviewed by a panel of arts professionals including Kiara Cristina Ventura, writer, curator and founder of the roving curatorial platform Processa; Jacq Groves, 2023 Sunroom Project Space interdisciplinary artist and educator; and Gugelberger. 

  • Jordany Genao

    Portrait Jordany Genao SPS24 Photo by Sekani Brighton

    Jordany Genao

    Jordany Genao is a Dominican interdisciplinary artist and educator based in Queens, NY (Lenapehoking). In their practice, they emphasize visual and theoretical connections between Arawak-Taino cosmology and ceramics, Caribbean plants and queerness. The space that nature occupies in Genao’s work is an affirmation of the ways in which it has traditionally been engaged to co-create homes, medicine and alternative realities. Their creative practice celebrates the life commitment of being closer to nature and using its wisdom to spotlight the multifaceted relationships between land, history and culture. Genao’s work has been presented in group exhibitions at Flux Factory, Queens, NY and Turley Gallery, Hudson, NY. They earned a BA from the School of Visual Arts and an MFA from Hunter College.

    Learn more about the artist at jordanygenao.com.

    Photo: Sekani Broughton (aka Abayomi).

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