DVAA presents ‘Lens on Latin America’ at International House

I first met photographer Ada Trillo in the summer of 2017, when I wrote about her show, How Did I Get Here, for Al Dia. That show examined sex trafficking in Juarez, Mexico, and it left a lasting impression on me. Trillo and I became friends, and that’s how I ended up at Da Vinci Art Alliance’s (DVAA's) Lens on Latin America exhibition, running at International House Philadelphia (IHP) through March 22.

Juried by noted author and activist David Acosta, the show is part of a collaborative effort between DVAA and IHP, curated to reflect a Lightbox Film Center series later this spring. El Cine Quema: The Films of Raymundo Gleyzer will spotlight anticapitalist works by Gleyzer and his wife and collaborator, Juana Sapire, and by the clandestine Argentinian film collective Cine de la Base.

The current show is in the East Alcove gallery, inside IHP’s accessible entrance. While the room itself is small, the works are arranged along the walls without any obstruction in the center of the room, allowing for a range of movement and the ability to utilize mobility supports.

A 40-year lens

Lens on Latin America features work spanning 40 years, including well-known activist photographers like Harvey Finkle, as well as newcomers to the art of photography, like Rosalind Bloom. Bloom’s paintings are currently in the Refugee Benefit Art Show at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral through March 1, but Lens on Latin America was a new venture for her.

The photo Bloom submitted, from a recent trip to Cuba, depicts a small group of young men on the street during a boxing session. At the January 8 opening, Bloom told me about the dynamic between the vibrant life of Cuba and the economic difficulties many face on the island. She hopes her photo shows the authenticity of the moment. She notes that it’s often easy for images to objectify groups of people, and chose her submission carefully. She says that when her piece was selected she felt pure joy, especially since it’s the first time she answered a call for photography.

Loving Latin America

Acosta notes that the photographers on display come from around the globe, evidence that issues facing Latin America are universal. Featured artists “hail from Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the USA,” he says. Not every featured photographer here is Latinx, “but their work does focus a lens on Latin America, and the results are wonderful images that speak to Latin American beauty, its people, and its complicated social and violent political histories.”

With the Gleyzer film series in mind, Acosta intends the photographs in the show to be in “conversation” with the films. Trillo’s work is a good example, as it includes recent photos of the caravan currently at the U.S./Mexico border. Meanwhile, Finkle’s photographs of Guatemalan Indigenous women widowed by that country’s civil war in the 1980s reflect “the ongoing and unresolved political situations that continue to threaten the people of Central America and which are directly contributing to these massive waves of migration north.”

Trillo’s Estrellas got the show’s first prize, and she called participating in the show an “amazing experience.” The photo depicts a refugee at the border between Mexico and the United States with gold stars (estrellas is Spanish for “stars”) on her teeth. DVAA is doing a great job of promoting the arts in Philly, she added, and the show is a great opportunity for the participants to get to know other artists interested in Latin American culture.

Da Vinci Art Alliance and International House’s Lens on Latin America runs through March 22 in the East Alcove gallery at IHP, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. For more information, call (215) 387-5125 or visit online.