Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Review of My Work Round and Round in Arteria (Colombian Art News Paper)


It is an honor to have my piece Round and Round feature in " the main information in visual arts in Colombia" periódico Arteria. Thank you so much to Vidal Romero, journalist for writing this article.

www.periodicoarteria.com/los-sufrimientos-de-las-inmigrantes-4953

Es un honor que el Periódico ARTERIA, "el principal medio de información en artes plásticas y visuales en Colombia", haya escrito acerca de mi obra Round Round. Muchas gracias al periodista Vidal Romero por este artículo.

Monday, March 06, 2017

Round and Round Solo Show at the Dole Mansion at Lakeside Arts Park


DOLE GALLERY:  Round and Round

  • Name: Johana Moscoso
  • Year: 2016
  • Medium: Performative Installation
  • Dimensions: Variable
  • Photographer: Nancy Valladares
Round and Round is a performance and fiber art installation by artist Johana Moscoso. This solo exhibition celebrates her family’s migrations to the United States of America, and reflects on gender and labor. It involves a collaboration with Latinas seamstresses who are immigrants or first-generation Americans living in Chicago. This exhibition is partially supported by the Individual Artist Program Grant of the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency through which federal funds are provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
BIO: Johana Moscoso is an artist who explores co-narratives of South American and North American cultures. She incorporates a variety of mediums into installations that express her interest in gender roles, culture, and migration.
In her fiber work she utilizes stitch and embroidery to create tapestries that reference the migratory journeys of her family. These tapestries become abstract maps made that trace the time, labor, and nostalgia of these journeys. In her performance work she strives to evoke intimate feelings that cannot be described in words but are better expressed through movement. By using traditional Latino and caribbean dances (such as salsa, merengue, and soka) in her performances Moscoso questions gender roles in Hispanic culture. Engaging these fragile human states is the pivotal endeavor in her performance work.
Ultimately, her application of fiber, textiles and performance with physical environments has enabled her to create performative installations that empower the feminine presence and celebrate culture and migration.

  • Sage: Arts in Action – Lakeside Arts Park Resident Artists


    1st Friday Art Show At The Dole –Every month people living in and near McHenry County, and all of the Chicagoland area, will have the opportunity to enjoy an artistic evening with wonderful featured art, the chance to meet and mingle with artists, and possibility purchase an original piece of work. The next 1st Friday Art Show is Friday, April 7th from 5:00 to 8:00 pm,Lakeside Arts Park in Crystal Lake, is proud to welcome the community to our 1st Friday Art Show at Lakeside Arts Park.
    $5 Suggested Donation- Your financial contribution supports the historic preservation of the Dole Mansion and Lakeside Programs.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Johana Moscoso 2017 Kohler Arts and Industry Artist in Residency!!



Arts/Industry is pleased to announce our artists-in-residence for 2017! 
Ghada Amer (NY), Liz Ensz (IL), Samantha Fields (MA), Michelle Grabner (WI), Mary Anne Kluth (CA), Marie Lorenz (NY), Johana Moscoso (IL), Joel Otterson (CA), Elinor Portnoy (UK), Amélie Proulx (Quebec), Kate Roberts (WA), Kevin Sampson (NJ), Edra Soto (IL), Tomas Vu (NY), and Robert Wysocki (NY).
Now in our 44th year, Arts/Industry is a residency program of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wis. It is made possible by major support from Kohler Co. Artists receive travel, housing, a stipend, featured exhibitions at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and 24/7 access to the Kohler Co. Foundry and Pottery facilities in Kohler, Wis. Residencies typically last from two to six months. Artists are required to donate two pieces of their work, one for Kohler Co. and one for the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, upon completion of the residency. 
Applications for Arts/Industry’s 2018 residencies must be submitted by April 1, 2017. For more information about the program, visit http://www.jmkac.org/explore-discover/arts-industry-program.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

LA TELA Y LA FAENA: TRACING THE CONTOURS OF LATIN AMERICAN MIGRATION by Teresa Silva

Videographer: Andrea C. Pabon. Video Editor: Kenan Legg. 

Johana Moscoso is a performance and fiber artist, born in Colombia and living in the United States since 2007. For the artist, textile and the body are inextricable for exploring migratory tales between South and North America and how this movement influences culture, labor, and self-determination.


The popular myth of Latin American immigrants coming to the United States to pursue the so-called American Dream of gaining fame and fortune or stealing jobs is a distortion. Many Latin American populations have been affected by U.S. policies and interventions on their soil, prompting individuals or entire families to journey to escape crippling poverty, political instability or financial crises. Historically, the U.S. has pushed trade policies that have devastated Latin American markets, have overthrown democratically elected governments, financed torture, and fueled drug wars with the influx of assault weapons over the border that have landed in the hands of cartels. These hostile acts have made life difficult in Latin America, ushering in a new and ongoing era of oppression and co-dependence after the end of European colonialism in the region.


Seamstresses and Tailors
Margarita Armenta, Nelly Balcázar, Maria Sanchez, Emma Lopez and Deisy Gonzalez
Photographer
Nancy Valladares


These collective experiences are one reason that Moscoso has invited others to participate in her performative and fiber art installation, Round and Round at the Chicago Artists Coalition. She put out a call for participants by going on foot through the Chicago neighborhoods of Pilsen and La Villita -- areas with the highest concentration of Latinas -- and visiting shops that sell fabric or do alterations. By engaging one-on-one with shopkeepers and patrons, the artist shared her family’s migration stories and was open to listening to theirs. Through these exchanges, Moscoso developed a rapport and tapped the creative capacity of 5 seamstresses.

Installation Assistants: Laura de Alba, Cristina Umaña, Melissa Leandro, 
and Scott Carter Photographer: nancy Valladares

There are four sewing machines, delineated by numbers of latitude and longitude, throughout the gallery that poetically trace the migration of Moscoso’s female ancestors and her very own. Each station is a coordinate where the family made a new home. The first three stations represent Colombian towns: San Juan de Sahagún in Córdoba, where the artist’s great-grandmother lived; the island of San Andrés to where Moscoso’s grandmother moved; and the capital city of Bogotá where the artist was born. The fourth location represents the city of Chicago where Moscoso currently lives and works. The red fabric that moves among the stations connects the women’s voices and migratory experiences through the labor of sewing and the humming of the machines. Moscoso, along with the seamstresses, will take the completed textile and adhere it to the wall, tracing the geographic boundaries of a matrilineal migratory tale.


With Round and Round taking place in the month of November during a contentious election season, it brings to mind thoughts about movement again. After this long and hideous presidential campaign, we should remain vigilant and active to the politics that impact the fabric of our lives. Regardless of the election outcome, our fighting days are not behind us, but rather ahead of us, for economic and gender equality and the right to determine where to live.


-Teresa Silva