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Check It Out: Estamos Bien: La Trienal 20/21 compiled by El Museo Del Barrio in New York City

This is Michael Maxwell with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.

Today, I am recommending Estamos Bien: La Trienal 20/21 - a book put together by El Museo Del Barrio in New York City to catalogue and commemorate their first triennial survey exhibition of Latinx artists from across the country.

Estamos Bien, the exhibit, was the result of years of organizing, planning, and creativity on behalf of both the artists and the curators. This is not your average art catalogue for many reasons. First, the artists and their work are presented bilingually in both English and Spanish- making this book accessible to a larger audience. Secondly, the curators describe the process for putting together an exhibit in the time of COVID-19, resulting in a book that not only documents art, but also documents the context in which this art was being created and displayed.

Both curators and artists chime in on how the momentous, paradigm-shifting events of 2020 impacted them and shaped their work. The results are both grounding and inspiring. Estamos Bien is packed full of color photographs of work featured in the exhibition. You’ll meet all kinds of cool contemporary artists working in all kinds of media. My personal favorite from this group is Yvette Mayorga, an artist trained as a pastry chef who creates brightly colored three-dimensional works by applying paint with a piping bag.

I highly recommend Estamos Bien: La Trienal 20/21 to readers who are creatively inclined, who enjoy visiting art museums, and/or those of us who are still trying to process the events of the last three years. Estamos Bien is one of many books full of creative inspiration that you can check out from the Sioux City Public Library today!

Support for Check It Out on Siouxland Public Media comes from Verde Outdoor Media.

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