METRO SCENE – The Art Museum of the Americas’ exhibit honors trans, Two-Spirit, non-binary, and gender diverse artists

By Nina Glick, Photojournalist

July 29, 2023

Photos by Nina Glick and DC Spotlight Newspaper

The Art Museum of the Americas, the oldest museum of Latin American and Caribbean art in the U.S., hosted an opening reception for their “As We Are: Trans, Two-Spirit, Non-Binary, and Gender Diverse Artists of the Americas exhibit, which is on exhibit until October 8th. The reception featured speeches from Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva, the Ambassador of Colombia to the OAS and Coordinator of OAS LGBTQ Core Group, Carmen Montón Giménez, the Ambassador of Spain to the OAS, and Guido Pierri from the Mission of Argentina to the OAS inaugurate, as well as from the Director of the Art Museum of the Americas, Adriana Ospina.

(From right to left) – Director of the Art Museum of the Americas Adriana Ospina, Exhibiting artists Laya Monarez and Brooklyn Rando, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro, Ambassador of Colombia to the OAS and Coordinator of OAS LGBTQ Core Group Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva, Ambassador of Spain to the OAS Carmen Montón Giménez

Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States speaks at the reception at the Art Museum of the Americas

Carmen Montón Giménez, the Ambassador of Spain to the OAS

Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva, the Ambassador of Colombia to the OAS and Coordinator of OAS LGBTQ Core Group

The goal of this exhibition is “to strengthen and increase the visibility of the social, economic, cultural, civil, and political rights of trans, Two-Spirit, non-binary, and gender-diverse people in OAS member states [and] ¦ increase knowledge of inter-American and international human rights standards on the right to gender identity and expression and its implications for civil registration and identification processes, to encourage fair and human practices to disseminate individual stories, and to make recommendations to the civil registries of the OAS Member States so that they are better equipped to facilitate changes to their internal gender identity recognition policies, processes, and procedures.

Artists and winners of the exhibition’s grand prize for their video installation Mil Sucesos perdidos hasta ahora, 2021, Río Paraná, spoke remotely. Also participating in the reception were artists Laya Monarez and Brooklyn Rando. Each work in the exhibition is by a trans, non-binary, or gender-diverse artist who represents an OAS member or observer country. Some countries represented in the exhibit include Mexico, Cuba, Italy, Panama, Chile, and the United States.

S.K. Wrenn (United States), The Land Between (2019), Mixed media on canvas

Nonardo Perea (Cuba), Vulgarmente Clásica 1 (2018), Digital photograph

Laura Victoria Martes (Mexico), La Transmigración de los sueños IV (2023), Pencil on Fabriano paper

Río Paraná (Duen Sacchi and Mag De Santo) (Argentina), Mil Sucesos perdidos hasta ahora (2021), Video installation

S.K. Wrenn (United States), The Land Between (2019), Mixed media on canvas

Left- Malinalli Juárez-Aguîlar (Mexico), Cybertrans (2022), Acrylic on cotton paper Right- Christian Pérez Vega (Panama), Healing (2022), Drypoint pen on Fabriano paper

Brooklyn Rando (Italy), Metamorphosis (2021), Black marker on paper

Also on display at the Art Museum of the Americas is “Picasso: A Dialog with the Americas, open until September 20th, “Petrona Viera: creación sin fin (Petrona Viera: Endless creation), open until September 27th, and “Sobre una mujer / About a Woman, open until October 8th,