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Fotografia de la Esperanza (Photography of Hope)
What do politics, art and leukemia have in common???
From June 14th until July 31st, Benham Studio-Gallery is privileged to exhibit :
Fotografia de la Esperanza (Photography of Hope) :
Marita Holdaway, owner of Benham Gallery was invited to a photo festival in
Houston called Fotofest. At this event she met gallery owners Maria Ines
Sanders and Jim Sanders who represent an eclectic collection of Latin
American photographers. Their work captivated Ms. Holdaway and soon a
collaboration began. The Sicardi-Sanders Gallery has curated an
exhibition to be held at Benham Gallery June 14th - July 31st. Titled
Fotografia de la Esperanza, meaning photography of hope, this collection
captures "the emotion and long tales of survival evident in the photographs
which express not only hope but also the history, heritage and pride of
Latin American culture", according to Holdaway.
Representative Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, a tireless advocate on behalf of
Hispanic arts and heritage, has contributed greatly to the promotion of
this important exhibit and in bring public recognition to the best Hispanic
artists. "This show revels the spirit of eternal hope of the Latin
American people and boldly captures the texture of our culture. I truly
hope the public will see and appreciate the tremendous genius and effort
behind this show" States Representative Gutierrez Kenney
The Max Foundation is dedicated to saving lives of leukemia patients by
connecting bone marrow donors around the world through a retrieval system.
Currently there is no way for a Latino leukemia patient to find donors in
Latin America. Since this is an extremely prejudiced disease, the closer
to your ethnicity, the better your chances of finding a matched donor.
Although people have signed the donor registry it is not yet linked
worldwide. So a person in Canada might die needlessly because of the
inability to assess donor information in Guatemala. One goal for this
exhibition and the diverse representation of Latin American artists is to
raise awareness for the need of a complete global network for people with
leukemia.
Two local galleries have joined forces with Benham to add ambiance and art
to this very special exhibition. The Eyre/Moore gallery will represent the
Guatemalan photographer Luis Gonzales Palma and the Tule Gallery will
provide Latin American furniture to compliment the art work. A percentage
of the sales will benefit the Max Foundation.
This unique show features an ensemble of contemporary Latin American
artists renowned for their haunting, poetic, surreal images. Following,
the names and origins of the artists; on the next page a brief description
of each.
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LUIS GONZALES PALMA - GUATEMALA
GERALDO DE BARROS - BRAZIL
MARIO CRAVO NETO - BRAZIL
EUSTAQUIO NEVES - BRAZIL
ANAMARIA McCARTHY - PERU
MARTA MARIA PEREZ BRAVO - CUBA
Luis Gonzalez Palma, (Guatemala, 1957 - )
Gonz½lez Palma is perhaps the most successful Latin American photographer
today. The subject matter of his most well-known work is the indigenous and
mestizo populations of his native Guatemala. An architect by training and
married to a dancer, Gonz½les Palma very early on in his career found his
calling in constructed and staged photography. Many of his works are
collages, others are straight prints, while still others are assemblages of
objects. Many of his images are portraits of indigenous men, women and
children dressed up emblematically to incarnate a character of mythology
and/or popular culture. Often, his black and white photographs are painted
over in a sepia medium, leaving only the whites of the eyes of his sitters
unpainted. This type of rendering produces an almost hypnotic effect in the
viewer as he or she confronts Gonz½les Palma's characters.
Geraldo de Barros, (Brazil, 1932 - )
Geraldo de Barros accentuates his work with an avant-garde, innovative
style that recalls to mind the serendipity of found objects reinvented in
the darkroom. Instead of transcribing pure objectivity, his images seem to
convey an aura of invisibility that urges the viewer to open a hidden
dimension behind the faŁade.
Mario Cravo Neto, (Brazil, 1947 - )
Mario Cravo Neto is perhaps the most renowned Brazilian photographer. He
studied photography and sculpture in Berlin and New York. Since the 1970's
Cravo Neto has been doing staged black and white photography about the
African culture of Bahia in his homeland of Brazil. His lighting brings
out the sculptural qualities of his subject matter while his emphasis on
texture renders it tactile. A strictly photographic trait of his work,
absent in many of his imitators, is his intelligent use of depth of field.
The precise conjunction of these formal and technical attributes contribute
to make Cravo Neto's images of black human bodies, animals, and ritual
objects powerful, enigmatic albeit idiosyncratic views of Afro-Brazilian
religious culture.
Eustaquio Neves, (Brazil, 1955 - )
Eustaquio's photography is infused with the flavour of the indigenous
African community of the Quilombos in Northeastern Brazil where he grew up.
He has produced an installation of projected photographic images, poster
size enlargements and reprographic panels around his interpretation of the
first Black Republic of the Americas. The images synthesize a vibrant
kaleidoscope of emotion, mysticism and spirituality.
Anamaria McCarthy, (Peru, 1955 - )
Born in New York, Anamaria has resided in Lima, Peru since 1973. In
addition to photography, her studies include painting, silk-screen and
ceramics. After gaining a considerable reputation for her ceramic
sculptures, she now works exclusively in photography. Her images often
portray the twin themes of life and death as coexisting in harmony. The
past seems to flow seamlessly into the present which gives way to the
future. Her style is highly intuitive and autobiographical with a raw
vitality that echoes the everyday drama of living.
Marta Maria Perez Bravo, (Cuba, 1959- )
Marta Maria Perez Bravo, has been exhibiting her art since 1979. Her
exhibitions have been in her home country of Cuba as well as Australia, New
York, Germany and Spain. She is in the collections of the Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston, Texas. Pori Art Museum, Finland. National Museum of Fine
Arts, Havana, Cuba. Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany. Basta Gallery,
Hamburg, Germany. Throckmorton Fine Art Gallery, New York, New York.
Ramis Barquet Gallery, Monterrey, Mexico and various private collections.
There will be a private reception for the exhibition and the Max Foundation
on June 18th from 5:00pm - 6:30pm. Pedro Rivarola, Chairman of The Max
Foundation and John A. Hansen, chairman of the National Marrow Donor
Program and president of the World Marrow Donor Association will be
speaking. The reception will continue to the general public until 8:00pm.
The Max Foundation is an organization dedicated to improving the lives and
survival rates of children stricken with
leukemia. It was created by Pedro Jose Rivarola, an Argentinian resident of
Seattle who lost his son, Max, to the disease.
Leukemia is the most common form of young cancer. It affects specifically
children and even though there is a significant number of adult leukemia,
it is today the number one killing disease of children in the United
States. According to the American Cancer Society, in 1999 28,700 new
leukemia patients will be diagnosed and 21, 600 will die of the disease.
Leukemia and other forms of cancer, considered incurable not long ago, are
now possible to be treated and maybe cured if treated properly and timely.
Bone Marrow transplant is one of the most common treatments for leukemia.
Today, out of the 2.7 million donors registered in the National Marrow
Donor Program, only eight percent belong to the Hispanic population. Since
ethnic factors are crucial to increasing the possibility of finding a
matched donor, this situation represents a problem of tragic proportions to
the Hispanic people affected by the disease.
The three basic goals of the Max Foundation are:
1. Dissemination of the most complete database of all issues related to
leukemia treatment.
2. Increase representation of minorities' genetic material into bone marrow
registries worldwide.
3. Transfer of technology, equipment and supplies related to the treatment
of leukemia from first world countries to third world countries.
The Max Foundation is currently launching a pilot program in the Greater
Seattle Area to reach the Hispanic community through Catholic parishes and
social events. The Puget Sound Blood Center and the Archdiocese of Seattle
collaborate in
this endeavour. There is also work being done with businesses of the local
community, specifically with business leaders and restaurateurs, to
increase education and awareness within the Hispanic community in the
United States about bone marrow registration and donation.
The Max Foundation has been working with Health Ministries, specialists and
community activists throughout Latin
America to create a formal bone marrow registry. As a result of these
efforts, the Latin American Bone Marrow and Cord Registry has been created.
The emergence of this formal registry will not only benefit leukemia
patients throughout Latin America, but it will also benefit patients in the
United States, specially those of Hispanic descent.
Ms. Dorothy Thomas and Dr. E. Donnall Thomas, 1990 Nobel Prize of
Medicine, are members of the Advisory Board of the Max Foundation. They
work with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and are considered
pioneers in the bone marrow transplant procedure.
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