Contact: Lauren Van Natten
T. 212 660 7102
lvannatten@elmuseo.org
For Immediate Release

¡MERENGUE! VISUAL RHYTHMS / RITMOS VISUALES
Masters from the Dominican Republic Debut in the United States

On View at El Museo del Barrio
September 29, 2006 - January21, 2007
Press Preview: Thursday, September 28
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

New York , NY – September 2006 –-El Museo del Barrio , New York ’s premier Latino and Latin American cultural institution, will present ¡Merengue! Visual Rhythms / Ritmos Visuales from September 29, 2006 through January 21, 2007 . This exhibition, organized by Centro Cultural Eduardo León Jimenes in Santiago, Dominican Republic and curated by Sara Hermann, explores the pictorial representation of merengue, the genre of music and dance that, interwoven throughout the nation’s history, has come to define Dominican culture and identity.

Spanning the 20 th century, the exhibition features more than 50 works from private and public Dominican collectors -- primarily paintings and also select works on paper, sculpture, photography and video -- by 36 Dominican artists inspired by this prevalent form of musical and rhythmic expression. ¡Merengue! explores the evolving formal styles embraced by artists on the island conversant with global artistic currents, from Realism to Cubism and Expressionism to Post-Modernism, while consistently drawing from a distinctly Dominican iconographic vocabulary. Tracing this great tradition and its intersections with the visual arts, the exhibition translates the energy and festivity of the beloved national music through depictions of both customary rural celebrations and more contemporary profiles of conjuntos, groups of musicians, performing for dancing crowds. A timeline constructed for the show relates the artistic integration of the works on display with historical events such as the Centennial of 1944, marking the commemoration of the country’s independence in 1844, and the mid-century political struggles towards democracy.

¡Merengue! Visual Rhythms / Ritmos Visuales has been made possible through the generous support of Altria Group, Inc., the Eduardo León Jimenes Foundation and Presidente Beer. Additional support has been provided by Bloomberg LP, GEICO, and American Airlines, with individual support from Carmen Ana Casal de Unanue, María Matilde & Roberto Bonetti and Tony Bechara. El Museo is grateful for the extraordinary opportunity to mount this major exhibition introducing to the New York public Dominican modernist masters such as Jaime Colson, Yoryi Morel and José Vela Zanetti, and contextualizing some of the thematically relevant work of contemporary artists from the island and the diaspora including Freddy Rodriguez, Nicolás Dumit Estévez, Chiqui Mendoza and Raúl Recio. ¡Merengue! will be presented along with This Skin I’m In: Contemporary Dominican Art from El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection. These exhibitions mark the first occasion upon which a museum in the United States will showcase the 20 th and 21 st century art and culture of both the Dominican Republic and the diaspora, whose largest population resides in New York City .

“Upon the success of traveling Voces y Visiones: Highlights from El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection to Centro León this past year, we are pleased to strengthen the relationship between our institutions and to initiate greater cultural exchange between New York and the Dominican Republic,” says Julián Zugazagoitia, Director of El Museo del Barrio. “This international dialogue presented a timely opportunity for El Museo to feature some of our holdings of contemporary Dominican and Dominican-American art as we continue to grow our core collection and expand its reach.”

“¡Merengue! Visual Rhythms / Ritmos Visuales arrives at El Museo del Barrio, showing the results of the creative process of those Dominican artists whom have translated this musical genre into an iconographical language,” expressed Lidia León, Director of Eduardo León Jimenes Foundation. “This exhibition not only brings two institutions that propel Caribbean art closer together, but our cultures as well,” says Rafael Emilio Yunén, Director of Centro Cultural Eduardo León Jimenes.

A full range of public programs for adults, educators and children, including a panel tracing the history of merengue on October 7 and a Family Day offering free workshops and guided tours on November 11, will accompany both exhibitions. A bilingual illustrated color exhibition catalogue will accompany ¡Merengue! Visual Rhythms / Ritmos Visuales.

El Museo is grateful for the support from media sponsors Artes en Santo Domingo and Univision 41/Telefutura 68.

About El Museo del Barrio
El Museo del Barrio is New York ’s leading Latino cultural institution, representing the diversity of art and culture in the Caribbean and Latin America. As the only museum in New York City that specializes in representing these cultures, El Museo continues to have a significant impact on the cultural life of New York City and is a major stop on Manhattan ’s Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue . El Museo was founded in 1969 by a group of Puerto Rican educators, artists, parents and community activists in East Harlem ’s Spanish-speaking El Barrio, the neighborhood that extends from 96 th Street to the Harlem River and from Fifth Avenue to the East River on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

El Museo’s varied permanent collection of 6,500 objects from the Caribbean and Latin America includes pre-Columbian Taíno artifacts, traditional arts, twentieth-century prints, drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations, as well as photography, documentary films and video. Through the sustained excellence of its collections, exhibitions, publications and bilingual public programming, El Museo reaches out to diverse audiences and serves as a bridge and catalyst between Latinos, their extraordinary cultural heritage, and the rich artistic offerings of New York City.

El Museo del Barrio is located at 1230 Fifth Avenue between 104th and 105th Streets and may be reached by subway: #6 to 103rd Street station at Lexington Avenue; #2, #3 to Central Park North/110 th Street station or by bus: M1, M3, M4 on Madison and Fifth Avenues to 104th Street; local crosstown service between Yorkville or East Harlem and the Upper West Side in Manhattan M96 and M106 or M2. Museum hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 11AM to 5PM. Closed on Monday and Tuesday. Suggested museum admission: $6 adults; $4 students and seniors; members and children under 12 accompanied by an adult enter free. To learn more about El Museo, please visit our website at www.elmuseo.org or call 212-831-7272