Conexión Exhibit Opened at the Museum of Modern Art

Conexión Exhibit Opened at the Museum of Modern Art
Santo Domingo, February 13th, 2015

The Ministry of Culture, through the Museum of Modern Art (MAM), and in collaboration with the Embassy of the United States of America, the Falcondo Foundation and the Altos de Chavón Foundation Cultural Center, opened the exhibition “Conexión” (Connection), by artists Jeffrey Mongrain and Nicholas Kripal.

The opening ceremony of the contemporary sculpture exhibition was held in the basement of the MAM and was chaired by American artists Jeffrey Mongrain and Nicholas Kripal; MAM’s Director, María Elena Ditrén; and, Cultural Managers Samantha Sánchez and Ezequiel Taveras.

In her welcoming remarks, María Elena Ditrén, Director of the Museum of Modern Art (MAM), said that “connecting the artistic production of two artists through various resources, such as the art form itself -the sculpture-, the material, and the conceptual and philosophical preference, suggests a connection at a higher spiritual level; by combining their ways of doing things as scholars and researchers of the artistic endeavor through traditional material such as ceramics, whose history is tied to the history of humankind, which covers the evolution of the arts throughout history.”

Taveras, curator of the exhibition, emphasized that “Conexión is another indicator that people can connect through art, by removing the territorial limitations that create borders, the language differences or cultural conflicts, thus creating a new bond that exists only through the emotion crated by the aesthetic approach to art itself.”

Artist Jeffrey Mongrain was born in Minnesota, United States of America. He is a renowned American sculptor with an extensive international career, who is best known for his work in religious or spiritual spaces. He received his MFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and his BFA from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

He has been the head of the Masters of Sculpture at Hunter College in New York, where he has taught since 1995 and has recently been promoted to Distinguished Professor. His most recent exhibitions include the Museum of Arts and Design in New York (triennial); the Museum für Angewandte Kunst of Frankfurt, Germany (triennial); The Biennial of Berlin, Germany; the Sharjah Museum, United Arab Emirates (biennial); and, the San Gabriele Museum of Sacred Art of Teramo, Italy.

Nicholas Kripal was born in the United States of America. He is a sculptor who uses ceramics as a source of sculptural installations, creating environments and intervening in the spaces. He is Director of the Art Department at Temple University, Philadelphia. Since 1985 he has been in charge of the Ceramics Program of the Art Department at the same university, and Vice President of Crane Arts LLC. He received his MFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; a Master’s degree in Arts Education from the University of Nebraska, Kearney; and his BFA in Ceramics from the University of Nebraska, Kearney.

His latest space interventions have taken place in Glasgow, Scotland; Kristus Kircke, in Cologne, Germany; Sala Uno, in Rome, Italy; and, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, in New York. Together with Sculptor Jeffrey Mongrain he has created installations for St. Patrick’s Church in Indianapolis, and the Corpus Christ Church in Baltimore.

His most recent solo exhibitions have been held at the Creative Arts Workshop, in New Haven; the Casa Principal Museum and the Sculptures Garden, in Xalapa, Mexico; the Diego Rivera Museum, in Guanajuato, Mexico; and, the Art Gallery of the University of Newcastle, Australia.

As part of the exhibition, there was a “Panel Teórico” (Theoretical Panel) by Jeffrey Mongrain, Nicholas Kripal and Amable López Meléndez, which took place on Thursday, February 12, at 7:00 pm, where the artists offered their ideas about sculpture, its influences and various predecessors.

On Friday, February 13, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, there was a “Taller Infantil” (Children’s Workshop) for children 9-11 years old from the Doña Chucha Girls Residential School and the Nuris Zarzuela Campusano School, on the topic Tile Cerámico (Ceramic Tile), as a tribute to and continuity of the Fifth World Triennial, which remains open to the public on the first floor of the Museum of Modern Art.

The Museum of Modern Art of the Dominican Republic is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. It is located on Ave. Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Plaza de la Cultura Juan Pablo Duarte, in Santo Domingo.

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