Edra Soto (b. 1971, Puerto Rico) explores the relationship between our private, interior lives and shared public history and culture. Graft is the latest in an ongoing series of installations based on rejas, wrought iron screens frequently seen outside homes in Puerto Rico. Rejas often feature repeating geometric motifs that can be traced to West Africa’s Yoruba symbol systems, in contrast to the Spanish architecture celebrated in official Puerto Rican tourism. Graft investigates how Puerto Rican cultural memory often masks the Black heritage of the island as folklore.
Made from corten steel and terrazzo, Graft is a monument to working class Puerto Rican communities and Soto’s first sculpture inspired by a specific house façade. Tables and seating invite visitors to enjoy a moment of rest, connection, and reflection. The sculpture creates a threshold, with one side representing a home’s exterior; the other, the more intimate atmosphere of an interior. The work’s title addresses Soto’s complex sentiments around migrating to Chicago while remaining connected to Puerto Rico. For Soto, feelings of dislocation are compounded by the island’s ambiguous status as an unincorporated territory of the United States. Graft opens connections between Puerto Rican communities across the city and reminds us of the centrality of the Caribbean to the history of New York City and the United States.
—Melanie Kress, Senior Curator, Public Art Fund
Edra Soto: Graft is curated by Public Art Fund Senior Curator Melanie Kress with support from Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Jenée-Daria Strand, and initial development by former Public Art Fund Senior Curator Allison Glenn.
About the Artist
Edra Soto (b. 1971) is a Puerto Rican-born artist, educator, and co-director of outdoor project space The Franklin. Soto instigates meaningful, relevant, and often difficult conversations surrounding socioeconomic and cultural oppression, erasure of history, and loss of cultural knowledge. Having grown up in Puerto Rico, and now immersed in her Chicago community, the artist has evolved to raise questions through her work about constructed social orders, diasporic identity, and the legacy of colonialism.
Soto has presented recent solo exhibitions at Comfort Station, Chicago, IL (2024); Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL (2023); Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA (2023); Abrons Art Center, New York, NY (2021); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL (2018); Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA (2017); The Arts Club of Chicago, IL (2017). Her work has been featured in notable recent group exhibitions including Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (2024); Entre Horizontes, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL (2023); no existe un mundo poshuracán, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (2022); and Estamos Bien, La Trienal 20/21, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY (2021).
She has been awarded the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant; Bemis Center’s Ree Kaneko Award; and US LatinX Art Forum Fellowship; and MacArthur Foundation International Connections Fund. Soto has received numerous public commissions, for Noor Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2024); Now & There, Central Wharf Park, Boston, MA (2023); the Chicago Architecture Biennial, IL (2023); and Millenium Park in Chicago, IL (2019). Her work is in the collection of institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico; and Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago.
Installation Photos
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Edra Soto (1971, Puerto Rico) explora la relación entre nuestras vidas privadas e interiores, y la historia y cultura públicas compartidas. Graft es la última de una serie en curso de instalaciones basadas en las rejas que caracterizan las casas de Puerto Rico. Las rejas suelen presentar motivos geométricos repetidos que se remontan a los sistemas de símbolos yoruba de África occidental, en contraste con la arquitectura española celebrada en el turismo oficial puertorriqueño. Graft investiga cómo la memoria cultural puertorriqueña suele hacer pasar como folclore la herencia negra de la isla.
Hecha de acero corten y terrazo, Graft es un monumento a las comunidades de la clase trabajadora puertorriqueña, y la primera escultura de Soto inspirada en la fachada de una casa específica. Las mesas y los asientos invitan a los visitantes a disfrutar de un momento de descanso, conexión y reflexión. La escultura crea un umbral, con un lado que representa el exterior de una casa, y el otro la atmósfera más íntima del interior. El título de la obra aborda los complejos sentimientos de Soto en torno a haber migrado a Chicago sin perder la conexión con Puerto Rico. Para Soto, los sentimientos de dislocación se ven agravados por el ambiguo estatus de la isla como territorio no incorporado a los Estados Unidos. Graft abre conexiones entre las comunidades puertorriqueñas toda a lo largo de la ciudad, y nos recuerda la centralidad del Caribe en la historia de Nueva York y de los Estados Unidos.
—Melanie Kress, Curadora senior, Public Art Fund
Edra Soto: Graft es de la curaduría de Melanie Kress, curadora del Public Art Fund, con el apoyo de Jenée-Daria Strand, curadora asistente del Public Art Fund. El desarrollo inicial estuvo a cargo de la ex curadora del Public Art Fund, Allison Glenn.
Acerca del artista
Edra Soto ( Puerto Rico, 1971) es artista, educadora y codirectora del espacio de proyectos al aire libre The Franklin. Soto provoca conversaciones significativas, relevantes y con frencuencia difíciles en torno a la opresión socioeconómica y cultural, el borrado de la historia y la pérdida del conocimiento cultural. Habiendo crecido en Puerto Rico y ahora inmersa en su comunidad de Chicago, la artista ha evolucionado para plantear preguntas a través de su obra sobre los órdenes sociales construidos, la identidad diaspórica y el legado del colonialismo.
Soto ha presentado exposiciones individuales recientes en Comfort Station, Chicago, IL (2024); Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL (2023); Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA (2023); Abrons Art Center, Nueva York, NY (2021); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL (2018); Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA (2017); The Arts Club of Chicago, IL (2017). Su obra ha aparecido en importantes exposiciones colectivas recientes, entre ellas Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape, en el Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (2024); Entre Horizontes, en el Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL (2023); no existe un mundo poshuracán, en el Whitney Museum of American Art, Nueva York, NY (2022); y Estamos Bien, La Trienal 20/21,en El Museo del Barrio, Nueva York, NY (2021).
Ha sido galardonada con la beca para pintores y escultores de la Fundación Joan Mitchell, el premio Ree Kaneko del Centro Bemis, la beca US LatinX Art Forum y el MacArthur Foundation International Connections Fund. Soto ha recibido numerosas comisiones públicas, para Noor Riyadh, Arabia Saudita (2024); Now & There, Central Wharf Park, Boston, MA (2023); la Bienal de Arquitectura de Chicago, IL (2023); y el Millenium Park en Chicago, IL (2019). Su obra se encuentra en la colección de instituciones como el Whitney Museum of American Art deNueva York; el Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico; el Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico; y el Museum of Contemporary Art de Chicago.
Ubicacion
Bloomberg Philanthropies is the presenting sponsor of Edra Soto: Graft.
Leadership support for Graft is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Jennifer Sykes Harris and Elizabeth Fearon Pepperman & Richard C. Pepperman II, with champion support from Elise & Andrew Brownstein, Ellen & Andrew Celli, Angelo K H Chan & Frederick Wertheim, Kirsh Foundation, Andrea Krantz & Harvey M. Sawikin, Holly & Jonathan Lipton, Jennifer & Jason New, Rasika & Girish Reddy, Allison & Paul Russo, Allison Wiener & Jeffrey Schackner, and David Wine & Michael P. MacElhenny; generous support from Chet Krayewski and Charles B. Short; and additional support from Alexis & Scott Litman.
Special thanks to engineering partner Silman, as well as the Office of the Mayor, Manhattan Borough President, NYC Parks’ Art in the Park program, and Central Park Conservancy. Additional in-kind support for Graft provided by Architectural Cast Stone, Mill Creek, and Navillus Woodworks.
Public Art Fund is supported by the generosity of individuals, corporations, and private foundations including lead support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, along with major support from the Charina Endowment Fund, The Cowles Charitable Trust, the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, The Fuhrman Family Foundation, The Marc Haas Foundation, Hartfield Foundation, William Talbott Hillman Foundation- Affirmation Arts Fund, KHR Family Fund, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Red Crane Foundation, Meyer and Deanne Sharlin Foundation, The Silverweed Foundation, and Wagner Foundation.
Public Art Fund exhibitions and programs are also supported in part with public funds from government agencies, including the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
