Opening Reception – Cultural Ties

Join us for the opening of Cultural Ties, an interdisciplinary exhibition that celebrates Latin American culture while confronting stereotypes. Interweaving the photography of Tina Gutierrez and Andrea Sabugo with mixed media works by Ximena Flores and Rebecca Nava Soto, alongside Sin Vergüenza, a selection of short films curated by Mary Leonard, the exhibition offers a multi-sensory exploration of place, history, and identity.

Gutierrez’s América series presents large-scale portraits celebrating the diversity and strength of Hispanic women, collaborating with her subjects to reclaim narratives and challenge assumptions. Similarly, Sabugo’s reimagined set of Lotería cards fuses editorial advertising photography with deeply personal cultural objects to present authentic representations of Mexican and Chicano/a heritage, inviting viewers to reconsider assumptions and examine the importance of traditional symbolism.

Mixed media works by Nava Soto and Flores add tactile and symbolic dimensions. Nava Soto, inspired by Mesoamerican materials and writing systems, considers contemporary issues through a Xicanx lens, reflecting on her Midwest immigrant upbringing. Flores’ wall boxes filled with natural materials evoke life cycles, migration, and enduring ties to homeland, celebrating resilience and cultural continuity.

The final component, Leonard’s film series, Sin Vergüenza, features Cuban and Puerto Rican performers, unapologetically confident and often breaking gender norms, blending the political and the sensual. Together, these works exalt identity, heritage, and representation across photography, sculpture, installation, and video. By honoring ancestry, ritual, and lived experience, the exhibition affirms dignity, resilience, and pride, preserving Latin American cultural knowledge and narratives for future generations.

Curated by Mallory Feltz, Director of Exhibitions and Public Art; Mary Leonard, Independent Film Curator

Visual Artists: Ximena Flores, Tina Gutierrez, Andrea Sabugo, Rebecca Nava Soto

Filmmakers: Lorraine Jones Molina, Andrea Narvaez, Ramón Pereda, Ela Troyano, Val Vega

Free refreshments and music.

Cultural Ties is part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View. Now in its eighth iteration, the Biennial activates over 70 exhibitions at museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky in October 2026.

Support for this 2026 FotoFocus Biennial exhibition was provided in part by FotoFocus.

Image: Andrea Sabugo, El Sombrero (Lotería Cards Series), 2026. Digital inkjet prints. 20″ x 24.5″