A Gentle Unroot: A Latinx Perspective

A Gentle Unroot: A Latinx Perspective

Curated by Claudina Hannon

December 12, 2024 – January 12, 2025

Artist Reception: Sunday, December 15, 4 – 6 pm 

Artist Talk: Sunday, January 12, 2:30 pm 

 A Gentle Unroot: A Latinx Perspective uncovers the possibilities for what happens when someone leaves their native Latin American land to reside elsewhere, and what they choose to keep with them physically and mentally throughout their daily lives.​

Most people who have experienced an immigrant’s journey will tell you it is no “gentle” process. However, the humanistic wish and ideal is for all people to transition from one place to another gently and to carry one culture into another seamlessly. The exhibition’s title suggests this concept as a wish for a gentle transition with almost blind yet faithful hope in unrooting one or more cultures and taking them with us as we move to a new country. Many times, it is not just something that affects those who are first-generation immigrants. It is a process that affects future generations of families through the traditions and memories kept from that unrooting via language, family, culture, and history. But it is that unrooting that allows the travelers to almost transform their identities as they embrace a new country, culture, and language individually, while merging their Latin American identity with that of their new homeland.

The Latinx diaspora of artists in this show share a multigenerational lens of experiences within Latinx and American culture. Their compelling stories and artwork provide a glimpse of what they experienced and witnessed, and this opens a greater understanding and sensibility for humanity through their first-hand experiences as immigrants or as descendants of immigrants within their family lineage.

Participating artists:

Ana Rendich

Dieglo

Katty Huertas

Paloma Vianey

Pedro Ledesma III

Rosa Vera

Ric Garcia

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The Athenaeum Gallery is the headquarters of the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association (NVFAA). Founded in 1964, the NVFAA is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in all forms of art, and to establishing programs that will enrich the cultural life of Northern Virginia and the surrounding metropolitan area. The Athenaeum Gallery exhibits work created solely by artists living or working in the region and strives to present visitors with a wide variety of excellent work and unique experiences.