MinerAlert
“Today is paradise overcast” – James Magee
James Magee opens his video “Paradise Overcast” with those lines. It is part of the Rubin Center’s online exhibition El Balcón Fronterizo featuring artists from El Paso and Juarez responding to these unprecedented times. They are answered by voices from the international companion series El Balcón, like artist Rebecca Chesney who accompanies a still frame video of her London rooftop with voices of female artist friends from around the world, describing in their native languages, their domestic and creative lives during a global pandemic. Nandita Kumar begins her video from India with vibrant images of the gulmohar tree outside of her studio, which she tells us takes 45 years to flower, celebrating that this flowering has coincided with the crisis we have all been living through.
In a year that has brought extraordinary challenges we find ourselves being extraordinarily grateful for the way the work of the Rubin Center has connected us to a community of artists and others, both locally and around the globe, who have confronted this crisis with creativity, generosity and commitment to a better tomorrow.
Together we are reimagining what it means to be the place where contemporary art meets contemporary life and are deeply grateful that so many of you have joined us on the journey. Today is overcast to be sure, but through the work of visionary artists here on the border and around the world, and the generosity of our community of supporters, we can see the outlines of something beautiful.
In gratitude,
Kerry Doyle
We offer our geographically isolated region a direct experience with contemporary art of international recognition and importance. We serve as a learning site for students from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the surrounding community by creating opportunities for student involvement in the planning and execution of exhibitions and outreach, and through formal and informal educational opportunities for audiences of all ages.