Queens Museum with New Exhibitions this Sunday

Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas
Apr 7–Aug 18, 2019

Traveling from UCR ARTS, this exhibition brings together the work of 30 international Latinx artists who employ the imagery of science fiction to explore the colonial enterprise that shaped the Americas, different iterations of history, and “alienating” ways of being. Mundos Alternos continues a transnational conversation at a time when immigrant futures are facing uncertainty. Located in the borough of Queens, a region transformed by waves of Caribbean, South American, and Mexican migration, the exhibition addresses contemporary issues of nationhood, citizenship, and borders, and invites East Coast audiences to imagine an alternate world where many worlds may cohabitate. At the Queens Museum, the show includes work by Chico MacMurtrie, Beatriz Cortez, Rigo 23, Ruben Ortiz Torres, Debora Kuetzpal Vasquez, Laura Molina, ADÁL, and many more. Including satellite installations and programs at The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, Museum of the Moving Image, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, and the New York Hall of Science.
Alexandria Smith’s Monuments to an Effigy
Apr 7–Aug 18, 2019
 

2018-2019 Queens Museum/Jerome Foundation Fellow Alexandria Smith takes the histories of the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground and the Macedonia A.M.E. Church – both located near QM – as points of departure for this new body of work. Smith continues her ongoing exploration of narrative, memory, and myth through the lens of the black female form and psyche. At Queens Museum, Smith creates a space to honor and remember the unsung and historically silenced stories of women who are buried at the site but not acknowledged. The artwork resembles a chapel furnished with pews and adorned with stained glass influenced by African fractal patterns, collage work that incorporates Smith’s signature fragmented/hybrid Black female figures in an abstracted space, a sound installation, as well as reference materials related to the histories of these two local sites. In celebration of the exhibition’s opening, Smith, Liz Gré and Maurisa Mansaray will perform collaborative piece At Council; Found Peace inside the installation (more details below).

We welcome young adults with autism between the ages of 17-25. Participants are encouraged to interact with peers and mentors and express themselves through a variety of art mediums. 

Scholar and film series curator Itala Schmelz will speak on the historical significance of science fiction iconography, as adapted in film in Latin America. Taking the theme of the 1939 World’s Fair, “The World of Tomorrow” as a lens, Schmelz considers how popular media can function as cultural resistance, and invites us to question our own expectations of the future in contemporary society.

We welcome adults with disabilities to choose from a variety of art mediums in this workshop as an avenue for self-expression.

Join us for this Passport to Anywhere themed edition where we will make portraits to create a “universal travel document” that can take you to alternate worlds.

Presented by Alexandria Smith, Liz Gré and Maurisa Mansaray, this original composition for cello, soprano, and spoken voice incorporates the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks with gospel tonality. The sound performance explores the process of seeking clarity and guidance from those who came before: our mothers, our ancestors, our heroes and predecessors that thrived and persevered in another time.

The band will perform selections from There and Back Again: A Sci-fi and Fantasy Voyage in the atrium.

@QueensMuseum

Images in order of appearance: Alexandria Smith, GloryGlory…, 2019 (detail). Mixed media collage installation on canvas and wood. Courtesy the artist. Laura Molina, Amor Alien, 2004. Collection of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago. CCBY-SA 3.0.Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas at the Queens Museum is made possible by lead support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Major support for Mundos Alternos at UCR ARTS at the University of California was provided through grants from the Getty Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Consulate General of Brazil in New York, Fundación Jumex, and Galeria Luisa Strina. Major funding for the Queens Museum is generously provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Lambent Foundation, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc., the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, and the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation.
The Queens Museum/Jerome Foundation Fellowship Program for Emerging Artists in New York City is generously supported by the Jerome Foundation. Major funding for the Queens Museum is generously provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Lambent Foundation, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc., and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.
Exhibitions at the Queens Museum receive significant support from Ford Foundation and the Charina Endowment Fund. Major funding for the Queens Museum is generously provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Lambent Foundation, Booth Ferris Foundation, and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc.