The Body as Battleground: Nona Faustine and Joiri Minaya

Press Release

Artists Nona Faustine and Joiri Minaya utilize photography and installation art to reclaim the representation of the female body as a political act in an exhibition at the William Paterson University Galleries in the Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts from January 30 through March 17, 2017. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on February 12 and March 5 from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Sunday, February 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. Co-curator Stephanie Rivera Berruz will lead a public conversation with Nona Faustine on Thursday, February 16 from 2 to 3 p.m. and with Joiri Minaya on Monday, March 6 from 2 to 3 p.m.

On view in the Court Gallery, The Body as Battleground fosters critical dialogue between each artist’s work as they address the different processes that inform the embodiment of race, the experience of displacement, and the impact of stereotypes.  

Minaya presents her installation, #dominicanwomengooglesearch (2016), which features cutout images of body parts with tropical fabric patterns printed on their verso. The artist happened to search on Google for images of “Dominican women,” and became fascinated by the female representations that ranged from exotic and passive to assertive and powerful. She enlarged the images to human scale, which rendered them pixelated, and suspends them from the ceiling. She juxtaposes the body parts with tropical prints, which also have exotic associations. As gallery visitors traverse her installation, they are prompted to reconsider gender and cultural stereotypes, especially the desire to romanticize foreign cultures. Minaya also presents her “Container” series, which are performance photographs of a female figure wearing a full bodysuit sewn from tropical patterned fabric. Minaya challenges the association of lush nature with the female form and endeavors to subvert the male gaze.  

In Faustine’s photography series, “White Shoes,” the artist poses at New York City landmarks that were former slave markets, cemeteries, and now forgotten sites of African American history. She stands nude—except for white high heels—to proudly commemorate her female forebears who were similarly exposed at these locations. Faustine raises awareness of the underappreciated role of African American women and acknowledges the city’s 200-year history of slavery. In Untitled, she creates an installation of life-size cardboard figures depicting Mami Wata, an African water deity who is worshiped for her healing and fertility attributes. Faustine portrays this spirit surrounded by the skulls of her victims as a demonstration of self-empowerment. 

This exhibition is co-curated by Kristen Evangelista, director of the William Paterson University Galleries,  and Stephanie Rivera Berruz, an assistant professor of philosophy at William Paterson. Berruz's main interests lie in social and political philosophy with an emphasis on race and feminism, as well as Latin American perspectives and thought. Her research has explored racial and gendered embodiment and the relationship between language and identity. 

Nona Faustine was born, raised, and works in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a BFA from The School of Visual Arts, and an MFA from the International Center for Photography at Bard College (2013). Her work has been exhibited at numerous venues including The Institute of Fine Art (NY); The African American Museum in Philadelphia (PA); Saint John's Cathedral (NY); Knockdown Center (NY); Governors Island (NY); The Art Gallery at the College of Staten Island (NY); The Center for Arts & Culture (NY); The Studio Museum of Harlem (NY); International Center of Photography (NJ); Woman Made Gallery (IL); and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (NY). Faustine has participated in artist residencies such as Smack Mellon Residency, NY (2016); Baxter St. Camera Club, NY (2016), and she received the Director’s Fellowship at the International Center for Photography, NY (2011-2013). Faustine has also lectured and presented her work at the Trestle Gallery, NY (2016); The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (NY), Ohio State University Barnett Center, OH (2016); Missouri State University, MO (2016); Columbia University, NY (2016); Albany State University, NY (2016); and The Amistad Center at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, CT (2015). 

Joiri Minaya lives and works in Manhattan, NY. She holds two associate degrees from Altos de Chavón, La Romana, D.R. (2011) and Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santo Domingo, D.R. (2009). She received her BFA from Parsons The New School for Design, NY (2013). Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at Sunroom Project Space at Wave Hill, NY (2016); Guttenberg Arts, NJ (2016); El Museo del Barrio, NY (2016); Smack Mellon, NY (2016); Postscript Gallery at Columbia University, NY (2013); and Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, D.R. (2013). Minaya has been the recipient of many awards and grants including the Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Grant (2016) and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Grant (2015). She has also been invited to numerous residencies such as Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY (2016); AIM Program, Bronx Museum of Art, NY (2016); Guttenberg Arts Space and Time Artist Residency, NJ (2016); NYFA Mentoring Program for Immigrant Artists, New York (2015); and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, ME (2013). 

The exhibition is one of two on view concurrently in the University Galleries. In the South and East Galleries, photographers Valeriy Kaliyev, Elyor Nematov, and Kurbanjan Samat explore the people, culture and geography of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and the Chinese Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, respectively. Featuring photography and video, this exhibition is curated by He Zhang, William Paterson University professor of art, who was a recent Fulbright Scholar of this region. 

This exhibition is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The William Paterson University Galleries are wheelchair-accessible. Large-print educational materials are available. For additional information, please call the William Paterson University Galleries at 973-720-2654.