En Foco Announces the 2023 Fellowship Exhibition “F[ull] Stop”
curated by Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz

Opening Reception May 18, 2023, from 6 to 8 PM at WallWorks NY

Bronx, NY - En Foco is thrilled to announce the opening of F[ull] Stop: 2023 Fellowship Exhibition, featuring the work of ten early-career photographers of color selected from the prestigious En Foco Photography Fellowship, now in its 8th year. The exhibition will showcase the exceptional work of Ángel Añazco, Tanya Bindra, Samantha Box, Ryan Frigillana, Pratya Jankong, Thalia Juárez, Ashley McLean, Eduardo L Rivera, Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez, and Ana Vallejo.

Curated by interdisciplinary visual artist Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, the exhibition will be displayed from May 18 to June 30, 2023, at WallWorks NY, located at 15 Canal Place in The Bronx, New York.

An opening reception will take place on May 18, 2023, from 6 to 8 PM, where the new Nueva Luz issue will also be available for purchase. Viewing is available from Wednesday to Friday by booking an appointment at https://www.wallworksny.com/book-online or for additional times email [email protected].

Raimundi-Ortiz's curatorial statement emphasizes the uplifting nature of the photography on display, which captures the beauty and resilience of individuals from diverse communities across the United States. She states "What struck me immediately across the selections I viewed during my studio visits with each of the artists was a sense of lift—elevation—to be more precise. While many of the subjects are captured within hostile architecture and landscapes, the level of reverence for the sitters is palpable through the lens. These are real people living real lives, attempting a semblance of normalcy within the harsh lighting in a crab processing plant, having una cerveza fria (a cold beer) in a humble watering hole in a Southwestern community, or the familiarity of densely crowded neighborhoods. We know these places, spaces, and faces. Our individual lived experiences when applied to viewing this work pierces the veil and stretches us past the frame."

About the curator: Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz (she/her, they/them) is an interdisciplinary visual artist whose work pulls from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European portraiture, comic books, sketch comedy, folkloric dance, and installation to address race, bias, trauma, and healing. Her work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York; Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Gyeongnam Art Museum, Changwon, South Korea; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, among others. She earned her MFA from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of Art, New Brunswick, New Jersey.