October 12–December 2, 2023
Artist Conversation & Reception: November 16, 5–7 PM
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU is pleased to present Mundos posibles / Possible Worlds, featuring collaborative and participatory work by Mexican artist Nuria Montiel.
For over a decade, Nuria Montiel has expanded the artistic and political significance of printmaking in her home country of Mexico and abroad. Her innovative participatory project Imprenta móvil (Mobile Press) (2010–ongoing) has been an important part of this effort. In the early 2010s, Montiel began pushing a makeshift printing cart through the streets of Mexico City, inviting passersby to create prints in this mobile workshop. Several of the prints produced by participants reflected on the violence resulting from the ongoing war between the Mexican state and illicit drug cartels.
Mundos posibles / Possible Worlds presents extensive documentation of past iterations of the Mobile Press. Moreover, the exhibition features a new selection of prints created by Montiel in collaboration with students from different institutions. Specifically, the artist worked with students from the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP) in Mexico and from Portland State University (PSU) in the United States.
In July of 2023, Montiel participated in the Federico Sevilla Sierra Printmaking Residency at Mullowney Printing, Portland, Oregon. The residency’s mission is to preserve traditional printmaking practices by offering artists living and working in Mexico space and support to create work, while building bridges between Portland and Mexico. Several of these collaborative works made during Montiel’s residency will be on view in the exhibition.
"This exhibition is an exciting opportunity to view the works Nuria Montiel created in collaboration with audiences in Mexico and Portland; the exhibition highlights how printmaking can bring distant communities together," says exhibition curator Alberto McKelligan Hernández.
During the seven-week run of the exhibition, JSMA at PSU will host a variety of free programs including: a conversation with the artist and curator, reception, and related writing workshops and storytime activities for children and guardians. Information on all exhibition events is available on the JSMA at PSU website: pdx.edu/museum-of-art/
Nuria Montiel (b. Mexico City, 1982)
Montiel obtained a BA in Visual Arts at the School of Art & Design of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (2002-2008), where she was also a member of Medios Múltiples, a graduate program that explores social practice in Mexico City. She later earned her MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2015-2017). She has been artist in residence at Federico Sevilla Sierra Printmaking Residency at Mullowney Printing in Oregon; Casa Wabi, Oaxaca; La Pared, Colombia; among others. She lives and works in Mexico where she is a professor at the Fine Arts Department of the Universidad de las Americas de Puebla (UDLAP). Since 2022, Nuria Montiel has been part of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (National System of Art Creators, SNCA).
Information on all exhibition events is available on the JSMA at PSU website: pdx.edu/museum-of-art/
This exhibition is curated by Alberto McKelligan Hernández, PhD, assistant professor, School of Art + Design, Portland State University.
Mundos posibles / Possible Worlds is supported by The Jackson Foundation.
Federico Sevilla Sierra Printmaking Residency at Mullowney Printing, made possible by the Arias Sevilla Charitable Fund and Nike Community Impact Fund.
Image: Nuria Montiel, Documentation of Imprenta móvil (Mobile Press), (2010-ongoing)