News Release: Nortesur by Luis Fitch on View at South Broadway Cultural Center

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Augustine Romero | 505-764-1743

augustineromero@cabq.gov

September 11, 2023

Nortesur by Luis Fitch on View at South Broadway

Cultural Center

Exhibit explores the intermingling socio-economic, geopolitics, climate change, and friction between Mexico and the U.S.

ALBUQUERQUE – Luis Fitch's lifelong art exploration of the complex interrelationship between the United States and Mexico delves into socio-economic disparities, geopolitical tensions, and the looming climate crisis that impacts Latino communities. His exhibition, Nortesur, opens at the South Broadway Cultural Center on Thursday, September 14 with a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m.

The exhibition traces Fitch's artistic evolution from his upbringing along the Tijuana-San Diego border to his status as an internationally renowned Mexican artist living in Minneapolis, Minn. His limited-edition jumbo size art prints capture the friction between developing and industrialized nations, portrayed through stark contrasts, vivid hues, and intricately Mexican contemporary motifs.

Nortesur takes its name from the Spanish words for "north" and "south," representing the bidirectional influence flow between two countries divided by an ever-shifting border. Fitch explores the spaces in between, where identities remain in flux, shaped by cross-border migration, economic integration, and shared environmental challenges.

Nortesur, on view through October 14, is free to the public. South Broadway Cultural Center gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

This exhibition allows one to engage with one artist's unique cross-cultural reality. Fitch ultimately leaves it to the viewer to meditate on their position within the liminal spaces between nations, communities, and cultures—and to consider how we might navigate these hybrid identities to build a more just, equitable and sustainable world.

Fitch was a guest at a weeklong printmaking workshop at the Tamarind Institute in May, along with three local artists he selected to apprentice with him: Dora ‘Raiz’ Chavarria, Lena Kassicieh, and Julianna Kirwin. Their prints from the Tamarind workshop – as well as Fitch’s limited-edition prints – will be part of the month-long exhibit at the South Broadway Cultural Center.

“I feel incredibly grateful to have been given this opportunity to create a piece of art at the same place where other famous artists such as Rufino Tamayo, José Luis Cuevas, Frank Romero and José Bedia have printed their work is an incredible privilege... Overall, it’s a tremendous honor and a dream come true,” Fitch said.

Nortesur, on view through October 14, is free to the public. South Broadway Cultural Center gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

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The City of Albuquerque’s Public Art Urban Enhancement Program is built on the foundation of two City ordinances: Art in Municipal Places and the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund. Since 1978, the Public Art Program has purchased and commissioned works of art using 1% of the City of Albuquerque’s construction funds derived from the general obligation bond program. Beginning in 2023, 1.5% of funds from general obligation bonds will be set aside for the purchase or commission of works of art and the conservation of existing public art.

For additional information on all of the public art installations in Albuquerque, visit www.cabq.gov/publicart or www.abq311.com. For additional information on the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund visit www.cabq.gov/uetf. TTY users call 711.