Richmond's Latinx art show challenges myths and celebrates roots
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The promotional posters for the exhibition use Loteria-style cards with some of the artists' names on them. They're placed on Alex Dimas' mother's textile runner. Images: Courtesy of Alex Dimas
As a child of immigrant parents, Alex Dimas knows how stories can get lost.
Why it matters: That's why she's bringing 19 Latino and Latinx artists in Richmond together for a free art exhibition meant to challenge myths about Latin America and share generations of history.
State of play: Hilos Heredados, or "Inherited Threads," opens Saturday in the Dominion Room of the Fan's Visual Arts Center with a reception Dimas hopes feels like "your abuela's backyard shindig."
How it started: Dimas — and her two friends, Ambrose Hernandez Godoy and Nathan Hosmer Nevarez — wanted more opportunities in the city for Hispanic artists, and especially immigrants, to show their work.
- So they put an open callout for artists with an end-of-June deadline, saying "we want to create a safe space for nuestra gente to speak their minds and hearts" during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Zoom in: Through paintings, photography, textiles, ceramics, music and more, artists tackled themes of identity, mental health, spirituality and queerness.
- Some honored their ancestral roots or "the old sayings that our abuelito used to tell us," Dimas said.
- Others commented on U.S. immigration policy, with pieces that say: "America was built by immigrants."
What they're saying: Dimas hopes the self-funded project will:
- Help Hispanic people feel "at home" and connected.
- Educate audiences about "the diverse, spiritual and cultural experiences of queer Latinx people."
- Push back on the narrative that immigrants "don't belong" here.
What's next: Dimas dreams of making the show an annual tradition and creating "more spaces for Latinx art to thrive" in Richmond.
If you go: The reception on Saturday is from 6-9pm and includes performances from Dimas, Brookhouse and MusiqReiv.
- The show runs until Sept. 20.