Acclaimed artist Vick Quezada is coming to Gustavus Adolphus College to share their artwork and their story with the public and student body alike. Their works are currently on display at Schaefer Art Gallery at Gustavus Adolphus College, and will remain until Sunday, April 7. There will be a public reception on Tuesday, March 19 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., with Quezada giving a talk at 5:15 p.m. .
Quezada is a nationally recognized and acclaimed Mestizx interdisciplinary visual artist. Currently an Assistant Professor at Hampshire College, Quezada has been a fellow at Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration Institute, and has received the prestigious Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship co-sponsored by the Ford Foundation. They are working with Professor Nicolas Darcourt along with the Latin American Latinx and Caribbean Studies (LALACS) program to put on this exhibit, with Darcourt offering up more information about the importance of Quezada’s artwork.
“The Schaefer Art Gallery has a goal to present exhibition programming which takes a purposeful approach to include artworks and ideas from diverse populations” says Darcourt. “To continue to bring a variety of visual stories to Gustavus, my goal was to work with a mixed media interdisciplinary artist, and to share the perspectives of a national Latinx artist. Both of these aspects for an exhibition have not been done before in the gallery.
Nicolas Darcourt spoke on the process of bringing on Vick Quezada for this endeavor, going on to emphasize the talent they are sharing with Gustavus. “When meeting virtually with Vick, I could immediately tell that their artwork was extremely personal, and the unique perspectives the artwork communicated would create a sincere connection with the Gustavus Community.”
Quezada’s art tells a variety of stories, with Darcourt adding “Quezada’s artwork is a very personal story about land, place, and perspective. They focus on an area where they have a strong connectoin, the borderlands between Mexico and Texas. From the perspective of someone who is Mestizx the El Paso region, Vick’s sculpture and video work uses symbols and icons to reference how the power dynamics of colonialism and indigenous cultures interact.”
Not only is the artwork rooted in history, it also explores these concepts in a distinctive manner.
“The unique thing about Quezada’s artwork is how the materials and forms they use and create are so very simple, basic, and direct. Yet, these materials and forms represent something significant. They represent time, cultural interaction, and the cosmos.”
With all of this in mind, Vick Quezada’s exhibition is sure to engage a broad audience. Whether listening to Quezada discuss topics on history, science, and the creative process, or visiting Schaefer Gallery to see the work for yourself, the exhibition offers a transformative experience that Gustavus Adolphus College can offer to the public and to its students alike.
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