Americas Society presents Geles Cabrera: Museo Escultórico

June 8–July 30, 2022

Geles Cabrera: Museo Escultórico examines the legacy of Mexican sculptor Geles Cabrera by displaying a collection of works created over the artist’s 40-year career, as well as archive materials. Her work is defined by a fascination with the human body, which she investigates and challenges in terms of its limits and meanings. Cabrera developed her own aesthetic after receiving formal sculpture training in Mexico City and Havana in the 1940s. She created forms that were both abstract and figurative while embracing and experimenting with a variety of sculptural media.

Cabrera’s sculptures explore embodiment through expressive stances, texture, and suggested movement, directly carving and sculpting materials like as bronze, volcanic rock, or terracotta. Cabrera is primarily interested in female shapes, and he has created a number of sculptures that are emotional portrayals of femininity. Her artistic practice has evolved over time to include large-scale collaborative public art installations as well as explorations with plexiglass and papier-mâché. Cabrera managed her own museum, the Museo Escultórico Geles Cabrera, for much of her career, which she founded in 1966 and from which the current show draws its name. Cabrera’s desire to share her work with her community might be viewed as a method for her to carve out a niche for herself and tell her narrative on her own terms.

Aimé Iglesias Lukin, Tie Jojima, and Rachel Remick curated this show.

The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation has generously contributed to the presentation of Museo Escultórico. The New York State Council on the Arts, with the assistance of the Governor’s Office and the New York State Legislature, is also supporting the project, which is partially funded by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the City Council. The Smart Family Foundation, the William Talbott Hillman Foundation, and Galera Agustina Ferreyra have also contributed.

Americas Society acknowledges the generous support from the Arts of the Americas Circle contributors: Estrellita B. Brodsky, Virginia Cowles Schroth, Emily A. Engel, Diana Fane, Galeria Almeida e Dale, Isabella Hutchinson, Carolina Jannicelli, Vivian Pfeiffer, Phillips, Gabriela Pérez Rocchietti, Erica Roberts, Diana López and Herman Sifontes, and Edward J. Sullivan.