The New Gallery presents Gamaliel Rodriguez: Memorias Manipuladas

(Posted Feb. 11, 2019)

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The New Gallery at Austin Peay State University, with support from The APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the Department of Art + Design, is pleased to present Gamaliel Rodriguez: Memorias Manipuladas to continue an exciting 2018-19 exhibition season.

The exhibit opens Monday, Feb. 18, at The New Gallery, located in the Art + Design building at APSU, and runs through March 22. The artist will deliver a public lecture on his work at 6 p.m. on March 13 in Heydel Hall, located in the Art + Design building. Earlier that day, there will be a reception from noon–1 p.m., with a gallery talk with Rodriguez beginning at 12:30 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.

Rodríguez is a visual artist based in Puerto Rico. He works with felt, acrylic and ballpoint pen to produce aerial views of artificial industrial, military and civilian structures in Puerto Rico and US territories. Memories are manipulated into dystopian, apocalyptic drawings that imagine the collapse of global infrastructure into ruin.

“I am excited to bring the hauntingly beautiful monochromatic work of Gamaliel to Austin Peay,” Michael Dickins, director of The New Gallery, said. “I was introduced to, and instantly enamored with, Gamaliel’s work a couple of years ago when a colleague at the Crisp-Ellert Museum in St. Augustine hosted an exhibition of his work. Since approaching him regarding an exhibition in The New Gallery, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. A few months later, Gamaliel was selected to participate in a residency set up by Mass MoCA devoted to Peurto Rican artists impacted by the hurricane. The residency provided much needed time, space, financial and professional support to help artists rebuild their art practices and pursue new opportunities. The work that will be prominent in this exhibition at APSU is a result of that time.”

According to Rodriguez, “The work is kind of beauty and chaos at the same time. I think this is our current situation. Puerto Rico is like that, chaos and beauty.”

Rodriguez received his BA from the University of Sacred Heart in San Juan in 2004; his MFA from the Kent Institute of Art and Design in 2005; and has participated in numerous residencies. His work has been included in both solo and group exhibitions such as at SCAD Museum in Savannah, Georgia; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York.

His work has been written about in publications such as Art in America, The New York Times, Hyperallergic and Folio. His work is featured in collections including MFA Museum of Fine Art Boston; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico; MUSAC-Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon, Spain; Comunidad de Murcia, Spain

For more on Rodriguez and his work, visit the Nathalie Karg Gallery in NYC: www.nathaliekarg.com.

Hours for The New Gallery are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Closed on weekends and holidays, and follows the University’s academic calendar. For information on this exhibition, contact Dickins at dickinsm@apsu.edu.