Chemi Rosado-Seijo: Comunidades En Movimiento
This was the first solo exhibition on the mainland of Rosado-Seijo (American b. 1973, lives San Juan), a celebrated voice in the field of social practice. Known for orchestrating lasting interventions and creative collaborations in his native Puerto Rico and around the world, Rosado-Seijo is equal parts artist and community organizer. He makes art objects and makes a difference. Photographs and a new film document nearly twenty years of his socially engaged projects in and around San Juan. Additionally on view will be new paintings, video, collage and sculpture made in partnership with Washingtonians. These new works illustrate the link between Rosado-Seijo’s two great passions: contemporary art and skateboarding. Photographs and videos documenting Rosado-Seijo’s longest running social intervention, El Cerro; filled Georgetown U’s Spagnuolo Gallery. Since 2002 he has worked closely with residents of this hillside neighborhood. Initially the artist organized efforts to beautify the area partnering with residents to paint houses in various shades of green matching the landscape and creating, at a distance, an abstract painting. This effort sparked subsequent projects.
This exhibition is generously supported by Maria & Alberto de la Cruz and Lucille and Richard F.X. Spagnuolo. Curated by Al Miner.
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People As More Than a Subject
“Socially Engaged Puerto Rican Artist, Chemi Rosado-Seijo, Uses Community Collaboration As His Medium”Juliana Biondo, DC Trending -
Chemi Rosado-Seijo’s Commitment to Community Shines in Comunidades en Movimiento
Anna Savo-Matthews, The Georgetown Voice, February 28, 2020
Chemi Rosado-Seijo (b. Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, 1973) graduated from the painting department of the Puerto Rico School of Visual Arts in 1997. In 2000, Rosado-Seijo had his first solo show at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona. He inaugurated the ongoing project El Cerro in 2002, working with residents of the El Cerro community, to present public art projects, workshops and other community initiatives. Seijo has participated in numerous exhibitions and biennials including the first Thailand Biennial in Krabi (2018), The Whitney (2017, 2002), Havana (2015), Pontevedra (2010) and Prague (2005). In 2011 he received the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant and in May of 2015, Rosado-Seijo was granted The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Artist as Activist Fellowship for El Cerro, honoring artists pursuing ambitious creative projects with a social purpose.
