MoCA Westport and Westport Public Art Collections Announce Opening of "Paul Camacho: El Ritmo Y La Unidad"
Westport, CT - MoCA Westport and the Westport Public Art Collections Committee announce the opening of Paul Camacho: El Ritmo y La Unidad (Rhythm and Unity), a new exhibition featuring approximately 50 selected works by Paul Camacho (1929-1989). Primarily drawn from the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC), the show also features works lent by the Housatonic Museum of Art (Bridgeport, CT) and the Benjamin Ortiz and Victor P. Torchia, Jr. Collection.
El Ritmo y La Unidad will be on view at MoCA Westport from January 13 – February 26, 2023. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, January 12 from 5 - 7 PM. The reception is open to the public and is free to MoCA Members. Advance registration on mocawestport.com is requested.
The exhibition was curated by Alexandra M. Thomas, an art historian, critic, curator, and PhD candidate at Yale University in History of Art and African American Studies, with a certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Paul Camacho: El Ritmo y La Unidad (Rhythm and Unity) is a monographic exhibition of the late artist’s formal experiments with portraiture, geometric abstraction, and still life. As a Puerto Rican artist active within the mid to late 20th century, his work must be understood within the context of industrialization and modernist abstraction as it flourished in the global 1960s.
“The show is titled El Ritmo y La Unidad because Camacho instills each painting with a vibrant sense of color and movement, ultimately creating unified representations of everyday life and eccentric designs,” stated Thomas.
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“More than ever, modern and contemporary art can serve as a lens through which to experience joy and view the world through a visionary lens. This exhibition of paintings by Paul Camacho is one such moment to reflect on the role of visual storytelling as well as local and global histories as they impact our lives. Consider the titular focus, El Ritmo y La Unidad, as an invitation to ponder the dynamic patterns and vigorous flows that shape Camacho's body of work." - Guest Curator Alexandra M. Thomas
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This year’s annual collaboration between MoCA Westport and WestPAC will once again enable audiences to enjoy selections from WestPAC holdings of more than 1,800 artworks at a public venue. Most of these works are housed in public schools and municipal buildings, not always accessible to the public. The exhibition will also include a "Learning Gallery" with approximately 20 works of abstract art from WestPAC's collection, curated by WestPAC Committee Chair Ive Covaci, PhD.
"Understanding the work and life of artist Paul Camacho (1929- 1989) and his activity locally during the 1960s and 1970s is long overdue. Advancing our understanding of the role that he, and artists of all backgrounds, played is essential to studying anew the thriving art community that existed in and around Westport. Through donations of thirty-three works by Friends of the James Daugherty Foundation, local collectors, and the artist himself, WestPAC is likely the largest repository of Camacho's art in the nation,” stated Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, Westport Town Curator.
“As an artist who observed and responded to the industrialization and modernization around him, Camacho also painted the future–and the times we find ourselves in today. Camacho’s life in Westport creates a unique relationship with local viewers, while his ties to Puerto Rico brings his work to a larger audience and conversation,“ stated Liz Leggett, MoCA Westport’s Director of Exhibitions.
Simultaneous with El Ritmo y La Unidad, MoCA will also showcase the works of high school students around the region in its annual high school exhibition. Entitled Who Are You When You Are Dreaming, the exhibition features close to 200 works. All high school students throughout Connecticut and Westchester County were invited to submit their work, and the exhibition showcases drawing, painting, digital/graphic images, jewelry, ceramics, photography, sculpture and video.
MoCA Westport thanks Wendy and Jacques Bouthillier for their generous support in funding the El Ritmo y La Unidad exhibition. Their gift allows the Museum to make this extraordinary collection available in a formal museum space.
In 2023, MoCA Members will receive FREE unlimited gallery admission, FREE access to exhibition openings, and FREE admission to Cocktails & Conversation events. Members also receive early access to ticket sales and discounts on concerts, select classes and other programs. And coming soon, MoCA joins the Fairfield Westchester Museum Alliance (FWMA) offering MoCA members FREE admission to eight affiliate museums.
For more information, please visit mocawestport.org or contact Liz Leggett, Director of Exhibitions. MoCA Westport’s winter hours are Wed 12 - 4PM | Thursday 12 – 7 PM | Friday – Sunday 12 - 4 PM. MoCA Westport is located at 19 Newtown Turnpike in Westport, Connecticut. MoCA Westport believes the arts should be accessible to all; if you need financial assistance with admissions, classes, or event registration, please contact the Museum at info@mocawestport.org.
Supporting Programming for Paul Camacho: El Ritmo y La Unidad
Join us for our ongoing Cocktails and Conversations series on Thursday evenings, focused on delivering engaging discussions relevant to the exhibition. Arrive early to purchase a drink or cocktail of your choice. Free for MoCA members; $10 for non-members. Advance registration requested.
Thursday, January 19, 2023 | 6 - 7 PM
“Paul Camacho in Westport” – A talk with curator Benjamin Ortiz and WestPAC’s Kathleen Motes Bennewitz & Ive Covaci
Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, Westport’s Town Curator, will discuss with Benjamin Ortiz, independent curator and collector, how Westport’s collection came to acquire so many Camachos, the larger community in which Camacho and his family lived, and the artist’s activities with regional museums. In addition, WestPAC’s Chair Ive Covaci will discuss the abstract works in the exhibition’s Learning Gallery.
Thursday, January 26, 2023 | 6 - 7 PM
The Intersection of Art / Fashion / Design and Art Collecting (Investing 101) with Jen Berniker and Annie Ford of Designport, and Diana Mashia, Founder and CEO of Invest in Her Art.
Thursday, February 2, 2023 | 6 - 7 PM
Curator Talk with Alexandra M. Thomas
Thursday, February 16, 2023 | 6 - 7 PM
Sarah Dove, paper conservator/owner, Sarah Dove Fine Art Conservation, LLC, Stonington, CT
Learn about the world of art conservation. For over twenty years, Sarah Dove has been the principal of an independent paper studio servicing museums, cultural institutions and private collectors throughout New England. She is responsible for the care and treatment of rare and unique materials, specializing in works of art on paper. Dove contributed her conservation work to this exhibition.
About Alexandra M. Thomas
Thomas is a PhD candidate in History of Art and African American Studies, with a certificate in Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. Interdisciplinary in nature, her research focuses are: global modern and contemporary art; African and African diaspora visual culture; feminist and queer theory; performance studies; architecture, film, and media.
She is co-teaching the fall 2022 “Critical Practice” course for Yale MFA students. Her seminar focuses on issues of race, migration, and diaspora. She has also taught African and African diaspora art history courses at UMass Amherst and Fairfield University.
Thomas is curating the upcoming exhibition, “Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinfulness in Global African Art,” (2023) at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, where she is the 2021-2023 curatorial research associate in African art.
At the Yale Art Gallery, Thomas researches 19th century African American portraiture as a curatorial intern in Modern and Contemporary. Prior to that, she worked on the reinstallation of the African art collection as a 2020-2021 curatorial research assistant. In 2018, she was a Wurtele Gallery Teacher. Since 2021, she is one of the assistant directors for the Schomburg Mellon Summer Humanities Institute in Harlem, where she herself was a fellow in 2017.
Thomas has worked with various other museums and cultural institutions, including: Mystic Seaport Museum/Discovering Amistad, Museum of Modern Art, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Rose Art Museum, and the Guggenheim Museum.
About MoCA Westport
MoCA Westport is thankful for its generous Supporters, including Bill and Jodi Felton, Joyce Pauker, Eric Bernheim, Gary Cosgrave, Michael Delgass, Paul Efstathiou, Kristin Foster, Derek Goodman, Elizabeth Gorayeb, Tom Hofstetter, Pamela Hovland, Jennifer Kanfer, Shari Lebowitz, Deborah Murtaugh, Rachel Pencu, Dogan Perese, Jane Preiser, Oliver Pursche, Elizabeth Strick, Joyce Thompson and Lucien Vita.
MoCA Westport is also thankful for the dedication of its generous Sponsors, including the Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc.; The Bafflin Foundation; Bank of America Museums on Us; Beechwood Arts and Innovation; Bespoke Designs; Wendy and Jacques Bouthillier; Cohen and Wolf; CT Cottages & Gardens; Compass; The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation; CTFN; CT Humanities; Delamar Southport; Earth Animal; Fairfield After Dark; Fairfield County Bank; 4th Row Films; Girlfriend Fund; Goldman Sachs; The Hofstetter Baron Group of Wells Fargo Advisors; Hotel Zero Degrees; JerMar Designs; Jerry’s Artarama; The Dale & Laura Kutnick Foundation; IBM; Lance Lundberg and Terry McGuinness; Lux Bond & Green; MBI, Inc.; Michelle&Team at William Raveis Real Estate; Provokr Inc.; Rena Levine Textiles + Wallcoverings; Ring’s End; R13; The Russell Agency; Shaken & Stirred; Susan Leone Habitats | Higgins Group Private Brokerage; Serena & Lily; SRI Fine Art Services; Suzanne and Norman Sorensen; Cindy and John Vaccaro; Vita Design Group; Wealthspire Advisors; Wells Fargo Bank; Westport Lifestyle; WildBloom Skincare; WMNR Fine Arts Radio; WPKN; WSHU Public Radio Group. MoCA Westport operates with the support of the New England Foundation for the Arts; the Department of Economic and Community Development, CT Humanities, Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
About WestPAC
Westport Public Art Collections ("WestPAC") is a cultural asset of our town, with more than 1,800 works of fine art in a broad range of media: paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints, illustrations, cartoons, photographs, sculptures, and murals by notable American artists — giants of the international art world, and important artists who established their homes and studios in the Westport-Weston community. Members of the Town-appointed WestPAC committee serve as stewards of the Collections, working to research, catalog, preserve, curate, and support the educational uses of WestPAC artworks on display in municipal and school buildings throughout Westport.
WestPAC's main annual operating support comes from Friends of Westport Public Art Collections, a 501(c)(3) organization, which raises and maintains funds exclusively to support the care, conservation, and educational use of the Collections for the benefit of present and future generations of Westport students, residents, and the broader community. Learn more on westportarts.org.
About Westport Arts Advisory Committee
The Westport Arts Advisory Committee vision is to enhance the visibility of the arts in our community, serve as a bridge between the arts and education, encourage cohesiveness among artists, arts and cultural organizations and the general public, strengthen the role the arts play in the lives of Westport residents, preserve Westport’s artistic heritage, and perpetuate Westport as a thriving center for artistic and cultural activity. WestPAC is a subcommittee of WAAC. Learn more on westportarts.org.
PHOTOS:
1. Visual identity for Paul Camacho: El Ritmo y La Unidad, featuring Paul Camacho’s Isis Of The Nile, from Westport Public Art Collections, oil on canvas.
2. Paul Camacho, Portrait of a Woman With Sun Rays, from Westport Public Art Collections, tempera on poster board.
3. Paul Camacho, Portrait of a Figure With Striped Shirt and Tie, from Westport Public Art Collections, gouache and watercolor on poster board.
4. Paul Camacho, Still Life With Wine Bottle No. 3, from Westport Public Art Collections, watercolor and gouache on rag wove paper.
5. Exhibition curator Alexandra M. Thomas.