Necroarchivos de las Americas An Unrelenting Search for Justice
This exhibition examines myriad responses to the violent state apparatus that both defies and reinforces borders rendering life precarious. Under the conceptual framework of “Neoliberarchivos,” artists in the exhibition engage in an archival impulse to document and denounce violence within the discourse of contemporary art.
Questioning U.S. intervention in other countries, authoritarian regimes, gender violence, racism, and the “War on Drugs,” the exhibit features artworks that also focus on the disappeared (los desaparecidos), feminicide, censorship, and the ongoing epidemic of missing and murdered Native American women.
Artists in the exhibition participate in a transnational and intergenerational dialogue to challenge the historical and contemporaneous nature of these topics and emphasize their commitment to advocating for social justice and collective memory.
Necroarchivos de las Americas is curated by Dr. Adriana Miramontes Olivas and generously supported by Allison and Larry Berg. Additional funding is provided by The University of Oregon’s Division of Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and by the Center for Latino/a & Latin American Studies (CLLAS).
Special Project
“Plegaria Muda” (2008-10) by Doris Salcedo is a contemplative installation consisting of pairs of tables that symbolize burials. The tables incorporate mud, seeds, and grass, speaking not only of death but also of life, or life after death. Our second largest gallery in the museum will be devoted for this special project.
Artists
Luis Camnitzer (b. 1937, German-born Uruguayan)
Oscar Muñoz (b. 1951, Colombia)
Felicia Rice (b. 1954, United States)
Guillermo Gómez-Peña (b. 1955, México)
Verónica Dondero (b. 1957, Chile)
Doris Salcedo (b.1958, Colombia)
Teresa Margolles (b. 1963, México)
Alfredo Manzo Cedeño (b. 1964, Cuba)
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (b. 1967, Mexican-Canadian)
Valaria Tatera (b. 1967, United States)
Voluspa Jarpa (b. 1971, Chile)
Gustavo Vázquez (b. 1973, Puerto Rico)
Zachary Watkins (n.d United States)
Regina José Galindo (b. 1974, Guatemala)
Carlos Castro Arias (b. 1976, Colombia)
Rigoberto Julián Díaz (b. 1992, México)
Virtual Tour
The JSMA invites you to take a virtual tour of this exhibition and other special galleries. Each tour allows you to stroll through the museum at your own pace, using the circle icons on the floor to navigate from location to location. You can zoom in on individual artworks, read object labels and descriptive texts by clicking on the small icons next to each work, and also access informational links, and exhibition brochures or study guides. You can also make your internet browser window larger or smaller as desired—and we recommend expanding it to full screen to take advantage of the tours’ high resolution, 360-degree photos!
