Artist debuts video pieces that blend Latin culture

Zoellner Arts Center introduced artist Juan Sánchez's newest exhibit this past weekend, with two separate lectures and guided tours from Sánchez.

Sánchez was Lehigh's artist-in-residence, a visiting artist who gave lectures and exhibit tours from March 12 through March 14.

Sánchez's newest work, three separate video pieces entitled "Triptych/Tríptico Retratos/Portraits," will be viewable in Zoellner's main gallery until June 14.

Though Puerto Rican, Sánchez's new video pieces go beyond simply Puerto Rican influence. While one of his pieces, "Prisoner," deals with Puerto Rican prisoners jailed for their efforts toward the island's freedom, the other two media video projections are distinctly different.

"Madre Selva" is based on the life of Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta, while "Facing the Storm" is a work that he composed with his daughter, Liora Sánchez-Villegas.

This is the first time Sánchez has created a work solely based on media video projections. In his lecture Friday afternoon, Sánchez discussed mainly prior works and credited numerous people for making his newest work, video art, possible.

"With video, like music, like dance, like theatre, it's a collaborative effort," Sánchez said. "You need more than me, myself and I."

To help the Lehigh community more fully understand his experience as an artist, Sánchez used the remainder of his lecture to discuss his prior work.

In his presentation, Sánchez used photographs and prints to showcase his past work.

Some of the photos dated back to the 1970s and while Sánchez admitted they may look dated, he said they represent where he comes from.

Many of Sánchez's works were inspired by his interest in the mingling of cultures, particularly Puerto Rican and American cultures.

"There is still a lot of ambiguity as what is a Latino, a Latin American," Sánchez said.

As a man of Puerto Rican descent growing up in Brooklyn, Sánchez said he was exposed to a multitude of cultures and the complexities of the two different cultures mingling, trying to become one.

"A lot of different art has impacted or influenced me," Sánchez said.

Many feelings he experienced growing up in Brooklyn, Sánchez said, are expressed through his work.

"I am what I am. And this is what I'm going through, through my work," he said.

Many of Sánchez's works are representative of Puerto Rico's struggle for independence from the United States.

In one of his many prints, Sánchez uses the symbol of an upside-down palm tree to represent Puerto Rico in limbo. In a similar work, Sánchez said he uses the image of wilted, torn-up flowers collaged together to represent people within a country of many people.

"For me, art goes beyond the question of entertainment," Sánchez said.

Toward the end of his lecture, Sánchez discussed one of his prints that he said dealt with individuals who have died trying to change the world. The print was titled, "Cries and wounded whispers," and Sánchez said it took him four to five years to finish.

"This goes beyond the Puerto Rican paradigm," he said.

Sánchez stressed his motivation behind his artwork in the lecture.

"I create work not just to make a statement," Sánchez said. "I also make work to get people to think."

Sánchez said overall he hopes his art impacts people.

"I hope people take it to their pillow," he said. "Sleep with that image."

Sánchez is a professor of art at Hunter College. He has received the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Arts. His work has been displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.