The New American Art looks at artists who bring a range of cultural backgrounds and experiences to their work – transforming what American art looks like in the process. From the detailed paintings of Jewish Indian artist Siona Benjamin, who puts ancient Hebrew figures into modern day situations, to the fantastically detailed weavings of Armando Sosa, a Guatemalan artist who is taking his ancestral craft into the 21st century, New Jersey is host to artists who are reinventing American art by infusing it with traditions from around the world.

This special presentation of State of the Arts explores the core concepts of Transcultural NJ, a Rutgers University initiative produced in partnership with NJN and museums and galleries throughout the state. Transcultural NJ sponsored exhibits featuring artists from a wide array of culturally diverse communities. The New American Art focuses on several of these artists, visiting their studios and learning about their lives. The artwork is framed by interviews with Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, an art historian and Rockefeller Foundation scholar, James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, and Isabel Nazario, director of the Transcultural NJ Arts and Education Initiative and associate vice president for Arts and Humanities at Rutgers.

“Liberty Madonna” by Siona Benjamin

Architecture

“Creating Sacred Spaces in Transcultural NJ” was an exhibit at the Stedman Gallery in Camden that featured different examples of religious architecture in New Jersey. The New American Art features two sites: a botanica in Newark and a Hindu mandir in Edison.

To learn more about these and other architectural sites and artists, order a copy of “The Religious Landscape,” an interactive CD featuring videos, photographs, interviews, and more. This educational CD includes a teacher’s section with an annotated bibliography and links to additional resources.

An interactive CD-ROM for students ages 10 and up. $9.95 from NJN Video, 609-777-5093

botánica

Botánicas are bodegas, or small shops, that sell medicinal and religious items. Almost all botánicas have a place for Santería ceremonies or consultations. Santería is a fusion of Catholicism with the West African Yoruba religion, which was brought to the Caribbean by slaves imported to work on the sugar plantations. Santería came to the United States with immigration from the islands, and botánicas are now common in many Hispanic neighborhoods.

“a neighborhood shop”, a story about a botánica
photographs by tony velez
written by susan wallner
narrated by amber edwards (english) and leida arce (spanish)
see the story in english
see the story in spanish

• also visit
  photographer tony velez’s website
  www.tonyvelez.com

“Owner, Botánica San Miguel”
Photograph by Tony Velez

“Botánica San Miguel”
Photograph by Tony Velez

the namaskaar greeting used at the edison hindu mandir

Namaskaar, also known as Namaste, is the Hindu practice of bowing to another person in reverence of their inner god, and as a symbol of respect and humility. Most often it is the simple act of holding the two hands pressed together and held near the heart with the head gently bowed as one says, "namaste" (pronounced “na-ma-stay”). Sheena and her friends at the Edison mandir do a more elaborate version, actually touching each other’s feet. The Sanskrit root of the word "namas" means "bow, obeisance, reverential salutation." "Te" means "to you." Thus "namaste" means "I bow to you."

“Idol at the Edison Hindu Mandir”
Photograph by Tony Velez

“Women at the Edison Mandir”
Photograph by Tony Velez

Artists

Over 200 artists participated in the 22 Transcultural NJ exhibits. Learn more about three who were featured in The New American Art.

siona benjamin

Artist Siona Benjamin is a Bene Israel Jew originally from India, now living in New Jersey. She is inspired by the style of Indian/Persian miniature paintings, Sephardic icons, the socio-political climate of today and by exploring the cultural boundary zones of her immigrant self. In her “Finding Home: Fereshteh (Angels)” series of paintings, she explores the women of the bible and brings them forward to combat the wars and violence of today in a Midrash (interpretation).

read benjamin’s interpretations of some of her fereshteh paintings
Finding Home # 67 “The Immigrants New Clothes” (Rebecca)
Finding Home # 61 “Beloved” (Sarah and Hagar)

• also visit
  www.artsiona.com

Finding Home # 67
“The Immigrants New Clothes” (Rebecca)
by Siona Benjamin

armando sosa

Armando Sosa was born in Guatemala to a family of weavers. Apprenticed at age 15 to an uncle, he was soon recognized for his talent. However, Sosa found it impossible to survive as a serious weaver in his homeland. In 1993 he came to New Jersey and built a loom even more complex than the one he used in Guatemala, which made it possible for him to create the intricate images and patterns that he maps out on paper. His recent work includes elements of his cultural heritage as well as patterns and motifs taken from European jacquard weavings, African textiles, and religious icons.

see more of armando sosa’s work

raphael montañez ortiz

Raphael Montañez Ortiz makes art that is the product of self-imposed discipline, complex methods, and ritualistic processes - some drawing on his Puerto Rican, Portuguese, and Native American heritage. In the 1960s Ortiz developed his own movement, “Destructivism,” an experimental art process that included destroying and reconstructing objects in public performances. Destructivism was made famous when Ortiz destroyed a piano on The Johnny Carson Show by "playing" it with an ax. This clip covers 30 years of piano destructivist performances, from London in 1966 to the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1996.

see a destructivist performance by raphael montañez ortiz