MOCA North Miami Invites Us to Reflect on Juan Francisco Elso’s Oeuvre
In “Juan Francisco Elso: Por América,” MOCA North Miami pays homage to the dynamic oeuvre of the late visionary and the rippling effect of his fierce creativity on generations of artists and the international art landscape. Curated by Olga Viso, alongside Susanna V. Temkin of El Museo del Barrio and Adeze Wilford of MOCA North Miami, over 70 works will be showcased in thematic categories. Riveting sculptures by Elso, a leader of post-revolutionary Cuban art, will be brought into vital conversation with creatives such as Tania Bruguera, Glenn Ligon, and Belkis Ayón, with recent commissions by Reynier Leyva Novo and Tiona Nekkia McClodden also on display. Elso’s skilled crafting of natural materials culminated in poignant works that speak to unseen Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean histories, as well as the shadowy repercussions of colonialism on contemporary Cuban, Latin American, and Caribbean identities.
