Refranes de mi Abuelita: Sayings of my Grandmother is a bi-lingual kaleidoscope of changing colors in the form of a coffee table book that encapsulates archives of knowledge and discernment from the campos of the Dominican Republic to the barrios of New York City. This conceptual array of expressions is fused with mesmerizing artwork that illuminates the timeless folkloric maxims of Edward Paulino's abuelita with an indelible and undeniable Antillean vibrancy. Embark on the sensory charm of Scherezade García Vásquez's artistic production, where captivating images enhance the illusion and power of these sayings which served as abuelita's beacon of light and guiding code of honor; a righteous tradition weaving history and memory that molded and educated her family through generations, migration, and war.
Refranes de mi Abuelita: Sayings of my Grandmother es un caleidoscopio bilingüe de colores cambiantes en forma de libro de mesa que encapsula archivos de conocimiento y discernimiento desde los campos de la República Dominicana hasta los barrios de la ciudad de Nueva York. Este conjunto conceptual de expresiones se fusiona con obras de arte fascinantes que iluminan las máximas folclóricas atemporales de la abuelita de Edward Paulino con una vitalidad antillana indeleble e innegable. Embárcate en el encanto sensorial de la producción artística de Scherezade García Vásquez, donde imágenes cautivadoras realzan la ilusión y el poder de estos dichos que sirvieron como faro de luz y código de honor rector de abuelita; una tradición justa tejiendo historia y memoria que moldeó y educó a su familia a través de generaciones, migraciones y guerras.
Prologue/Prologo by Julia Alvarez
About the creators:
Edward Paulino is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global History at CUNY’s John Jay College where he teaches a variety of humanities courses including The History of Genocide. Paulino is the author of the 2016 book Dividing Hispaniola, the co-editor of The Border of Lights Reader (2021) and a co-founder of the Border of Lights collective (2012). Since 2014, he has written and performed his one-person show “Eddie’s Perejil.” In 2018, he wrote the script for the Ted Ed animation video series “Ugly History: The 1937 Haitian Massacre,” which has garnered more than one million views. Between 2015 and 2018, he was a NY State Council for the Humanities’ Public Scholar. He is on the boards of The Coalition for Immigrant Freedom and The Dream Project. He lives with his partner and two kids in the Republic of Brooklyn and is a lifelong Yankees fan but still likes the Mets.
Scherezade García is a painter, printmaker, and installation artist whose work often explores allegories of history, migration, collective and ancestral memory, and cultural colonization and politics. A co-founder of the Dominican York Proyecto GRÁFICA, she holds an AAS from Altos de Chavón School of Design, a BFA from Parsons School of Design | The New School, and an MFA from The City College of New York, CUNY. García has been featured in solo and duo exhibitions at the Art Museum of the Americas, Clifford Art Gallery at Colgate University, Miller Theater at Columbia University, Lehman College Art Gallery, Crossroads Gallery at the University of Notre Dame, Museo de Arte de Santo Domingo and others. She has participated in the Havana Biennial, the International Biennial of Paintings at Haute de Cagnes, the IV Caribbean Biennial, Trienal Poli/Gráfica de San Juan, Latin American Biennial, BRIC Biennial, Venice Autonomous Biennial, and international fairs. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Art Museum of the Americas, El Museo del Barrio, The Housatonic Museum of Art, El Museo de Arte Moderno in Santo Domingo, and others.
García is the recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant (2015) and the Colene Brown Art Prize (2020). An edited monograph on her work Scherezade García: From This Side of the Atlantic, was published in 2020 by the Art Museum of the Americas. She is a member of the Artist Advisory Council of Arts Connection and No Longer Empty. She sits on the Board of Directors of the College Art Association (2020-2024).
García is represented by Praxis Art Gallery [link: https://www.praxis-art.com/en/artist/scherezade-garcia/] in New York, and IBIS Art Gallery in New Orleans.
Her artist’s papers can be found at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Garcia is an assistant professor at The University of Texas at Austin. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, and Austin, TX. For more information visit: www.scherezade.net