Connected Diaspora: U.S. Central American Visuality in the Age of Social Media

September 12–December 2, 2023

Read the exhibition review in the November issue of The Brooklyn Rail 

Connected Diaspora casts light on a new generation of artists who visually reflect on U.S Central American lives and experiences in the era of social media. Their voices have built a creative community that transcends state lines and borders. While their practices range from delicate ceramic sculptures to large scale paintings to digital art, their work coheres around explorations of displacement, war, and trauma , contemplations on everyday life, nature, and architecture, and insights into invisibility and empowerment.

Though Central Americans make up the third largest U.S Latinx group, this statistic is not equally reflected in references to Latinx art. Beyond news articles, Central Americans in the diaspora are a creative force leading the way to a more expansive discourse.

In collaboration with exhibition curator and artist Veronica Melendez, Usdan Gallery is proud to present an expanded version of previous iterations of Connected Diaspora, with additional artists and a special publication of the full catalog of the zine “La Horchata.” Created by Melendez and Kimberly Benavides, “La Horchata” has featured the work of almost all Connected Diaspora artists; it operates at the heart of the exhibition and the community it celebrates.

Participating artists: Eddy Leonel Aldana, Francis Almendárez, Kimberly Benavides, Divine Bradley, Jonathan Christensen Caballero, Nicoletta Daríta de la Brown, Jessy DeSantis, Galileo Gonzalez, Celea Guevara, Jenica Heintzelman, La Horchata Zine, Kimberly LaVonne, Kiara Machado, Juan Madrid, Julia Mata, Paulino Mejia, Motyko Morales, Dennise Nieto Zelaya, Carolina Porras Monroy, Sayre Quevedo, Isidra Sabio, and Johanna Toruño.