In our era of globalization, how do we stay connected to our roots? Johansson Projects presents five artists for Untitled Miami 2024 who all explore the meaning of belonging and home through their work and process. Featuring: Sophie-Yen Bretez, Miguel Arzabe, Iván Carmona, Anna Ortiz and Nicole Irene Anderson.
Sophie-Yen Bretez is a Vietnamese artist living in Paris whose paintings reflect autobiographical and existential themes through surrealist dream-like figuration. She challenges the male gaze utilizing reverse voyeurism. Also inspired by modernism, Miguel Arzabe creates separate abstract paintings and weaves them into one using a technique influenced by his Andean heritage. Iván Carmona’s vibrant sculptures likewise draw upon his Latin American background, combining childhood memories of Puerto Rico’s landscape with ancient Greek vase forms that transcend utility to challenge the narrative of Western art history. Looking toward Mesoamerican antiquity, Anna Ortiz invents a place of belonging that blends her Mexican and American identities into paintings that are at once uncanny and serene. Nicole Irene Anderson’s Californian landscapes convey a similar eeriness as they explore complex questions of home and the psychological impact of expansion in the American West.
These artists uniquely refer to their cultural contexts, drawing inspiration from memories, poetry, landscapes, and mythology.
