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A.I.R., Mary Valverde (Exhibition)


Mary Valverde, The Latinx Project's FA’21 to SP’22 A.I.R. presents a solo exhibition that emphasizes the potential of mark-making. Through on-site installations and works on paper an abstracted aesthetic language emerges. 

Mary's hypnotic grasp on repetition and color is layered intellectually and physically. She is inspired by a deep study of Andean Indigenous and African roots, specifically, their mathematical, architectural, and astronomical achievements. A lamentable reality looms, reminding viewers of the innumerable artifacts and documents that have been historically plundered and pillaged. Current archives bare little to no acknowledgement of the rich cultures and prowess of the Indigenous and African peoples of the American continent.  

Valverde’s work, informed by personal research and inherited ties to her roots, seeks to remedy this imposed amnesia. Her work becomes a re-imagined visual record influenced by both archives of Andean culture, and a diasporic well of knowledge. Moments of gold paint glimmer through tones of brown, red, yellow, and blue opacities. A nod to the foundational philosophy of duality; positive and negative, light and dark. In Marks and Measures, layers of oil on paper act as studies, denoting the possibilities of pattern, color, and adornment in grander scales. In the installation, Huaca (Angles, Sequence no.1), Valverde’s use of fluctuating boards and binding tape is responsive to the flexibility required for survival. A huaca refers to various Andean architectural complexes, lavishly decorated and embellished for spiritual and cultural importance. 

Encoded marks, unwinding paths invites us to meditate on the essence of these architectural triumphs, and seeks to reimagine ancient space into our collective futures.

Eva Mayhabal Davis, Curator

About the Artist

Mary Valverde (born 1975, Queens, NY) is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York. She received her MFA at the University of Pennsylvania in 2012 as a School of Design's Dean's Diversity Fellow, and her BFA from the School of Visual Arts, NY in 1999. Valverde teaches at Hunter College. Her work, "Huaca", exhibited at BRIC for the Latinx Abstraction show was featured in the New York Times. Valverde has given lectures and exhibited work at BRIC, Smack Mellon, MoCA North Miami, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, The New Jersey State Museum, Art Center South Florida, El Museo del Barrio, The Queens Museum of Art, Jersey City Museum, Momenta Gallery, Saltworks Gallery, Corridor Gallery, Rush Arts Gallery, Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Aferro Gallery, among others. Since 2015 Valverde serves as a Commissioner (Sculptor seat) for the Public Design Commission of the  City of New York, and often contributes as an advisor to the NYC Cultural Arts Affairs. Valverde is a 2021 CCSRE Arts Practitioner Fellow at Stanford University. She has been in residence at the Thomas Hunter Ceramic Artist in Residence in 2014, an MFA Lecturer at the ICA Philadelphia in 2011, at Artist Alliance Residency 2007, and at Aljira Center for Contemporary Art's Emerge Program in 2006. Valverde has curated exhibitions and published her writing through AC Institute, NY and the Korean Cultural Center of New York.

About the Curator

Eva Mayhabal Davis (b. Toluca, Mexico) is a cultural advocate, working directly with artists and creatives in the production of exhibitions, texts, and events. She has curated exhibitions at BronxArtSpace, MECA International Art Fair, the Queens Museum, Smack Mellon, The Bronx Museum of Arts and is a co-director at Transmitter, a collaborative curatorial initiative. She is a founding member of El Salón, a creative and soulful potluck. Her writing has been featured in exhibition catalogs and publications such as the New York University Hemispheric Institute’s Cuadernos, Foundwork Dialogues and Nueva Luz: Photographic Journal.



Visit the Exhibition

285 Mercer Street, NY/NY

Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 5pm

NYU has put in place specific restrictions for campus safety as we navigate Covid-19. Gallery hours apply to NYU Students, Faculty, & Staff who have been approved for access. For all other community members, please complete this form to schedule an appointment during open hours.

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Historias: Foundational Writers

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Garifuna Ancestral Memory in Diaspora