“𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗮/𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦𝗔” A Solo Exhibit by 𝗙𝗱𝗹𝗠 – Opening Reception

Featuring works on papers from FdlM’s 𝘕𝘦𝘰𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘹 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 and a Peace Boxes installation, the exhibit will be open from June 3 to July 2, 2023.The show examines the disintegration of family structures and dynamics brought upon by war, trauma, migration, and loss. Often referencing revealing aspects of his own childhood, history, current events, and contemporary culture, FdlM’s work delves into the fractures that take place in the family unit and the profound impact that sociopolitical and cultural shifts can have in altering their lives and impairing their relationship. Constructed from an inventory of drawings, journal pages, photographs and found ephemera, each composition invites the viewer into a space where artistic inquiry and documentation leads to self-discovery, understanding and finding common ground.

Gov­er­nors Island is a 172-acre island in the heart of New York Har­bor. Just min­utes from Low­er Man­hat­tan and the Brook­lyn water­front by fer­ry, the Island is a pop­u­lar and unique des­ti­na­tion with an award-win­ning park com­ple­ment­ed by dozens of his­toric build­ings, year-round edu­ca­tion­al and cul­tur­al facil­i­ties, a rich arts and cul­ture pro­gram and 22-acre Nation­al Mon­u­ment man­aged by the Nation­al Park Service.

Franck de las Mercedes is an acclaimed contemporary artist, poet & street photographer born in Masaya, Nicaragua. Arriving in Washington Heights at age 11, Franck’s experience as a child in war-torn Nicaragua along with the visual clash of New York’s graffiti and Abstract Expressionism movement played major roles in his becoming a visual artist. He is regarded as one of Nicaragua’s most important contemporary artists with a multifaceted body of work. In 2006, he achieved international recognition with his conceptual art project “The Priority Boxes” or “Peace Boxes,” created to promote peace through participatory art.Named one of “15 Artists About to Dominate 2015” by Complex Magazine, Franck is the recipient of an “Outstanding Latino” award from UCMP, the “Hearing Our Voices” award from Voices Unbroken & is profiled in the book Learning from Latino Role Models: Inspire Students through Biographies, Instructional Activities, and Creative Assignments by David Campos. His work has been exhibited in numerous national and international museums and art galleries. This year, de las Mercedes published his first book of poetry, entitled Primogénito.