Opening Reception 2 p.m. Feb. 8 | Goppert Gallery
(Leavenworth, Kan.)鈥擳he 花椒直播 will kick off its 2023 Goppert Gallery season with 鈥淟iminal Being,鈥� an exhibition from Kansas City-based artist Carlos Ortiz-Gallo.
The exhibition focuses on the construction of life-size members of his family into new hybrid beings in different liminal spaces and moments, which are based on family documents and photographs, interviews, and conversations. The artwork pieces together his identity, his family鈥檚 collective history, and his transition from a broken family nucleus to an ever-changing and challenging American socioeconomic and political landscape.
鈥淟iminal Being鈥� is free and open to the public on weekdays from Feb. 8-April 14 in the Xavier Hall Goppert Gallery on USM's Main Campus in Leavenworth 鈥� 4100 South 4th Street. USM will host an opening reception at 2 p.m. on Feb. 8.
鈥淢y focus on the manipulation, fragmentation, and reinterpretation of different materials, directly parallel my family and childhood experiences,鈥� Ortiz-Gallo said. 鈥淎s these elements come together, they allude to ideas of adaptation and assimilation to a different culture, dealing with absence and presence, and confronting my own family鈥檚 separation and disintegration. The creation of these figures allows me to take control of the narrative revolving around my kin's legacy and my own memories to piece together a sense of identity.鈥�
Ortiz-Gallo was born in Lima, Peru, and migrated with his family to Miami, Fla., in May 2001. Currently based in Kansas City, Mo., Ortiz-Gallo works with a diverse array of mediums to create large hybrid installations. He has participated in several solo and group shows and has exhibited work at spaces such as 19 Below, La Esquina, Beggar鈥檚 Table, and the Curiouser in Kansas City. He has also exhibited work in galleries in Illinois, Florida, and Texas. Ortiz-Gallo obtained his BFA in printmaking and art history from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2016 and was a resident artist at Art Letter & Numbers in Averill Park, N.Y., in the fall of 2021.
Ortiz-Gallo also works with 鈥淟a Onda,鈥� a traveling and migrating group exhibition based in Kansas City featuring a cast of Latinx artists. He has shown in many exhibitions with them around the Midwest and has begun curating exhibitions, developing a new area of his practice.