February 4, 2015
Pinball Machine - The Beast
The art of Central American Studies professor Beatriz Cortez is currently on exhibit at the Stamp Gallery at the University of Maryland, College Park. The show, titled Nomad World,opened January 26, with a reception to be held February 5.
Nomad World features five sculptures and installations through which Professor Cortez explores themes of loss, immigration, transnationalism, and collective and subjective realities. According to press materials for the exhibit, “The sculptures and installations in the show invite us to move back and forth from our childhood to the present, as they reveal a dislocated and fragmentary memory that mirrors the artist’s existence shared between San Salvador and Los Angeles.”
Cortez’s mixed media include organic materials, building materials, and technological components, and some of her installations transcend exhibit space. Nomad World features her works “The Pinball Machine (The Beast),” “The Fortune Teller Machine,” “The Jukebox,” “The Time Machine,” and “The Photo Booth.” Images of these works and others can be viewed at her website.
Professor Cortez was born in El Salvador and has lived in the United States since 1989. She has taught at CSUN since 2000. She has exhibited her work in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. She holds a doctorate in Latin American literature from Arizona State University and a Master’s in Visual Art from CSUN. She is a Master of Fine Arts candidate at the California Institute of the Arts.
Nomad World continues through March 12 at the Stamp Gallery.