Connected Diaspora: Central American Visuality in the Age of Social Media from September 14, 2020 to December 12, 2020 at The Stamp Gallery | University of Maryland, College Park | Written by Emily Pan

Walking into the gallery, one would only usually expect to find traditional paintings hung in frames and canvases lining the walls in an orderly, structured way. However, the exhibit Connected Diaspora: Central American Visuality in the Age of Social Media presents a different reality. 

Among a combination of various pieces of art of various mediums, the work of artist Johanna Toruño quite literally stands out brighter than the rest, and her work always has. Toruño is an artist known for her Unapologetic Street Series, a public art venture created by and for people of color and queer people of color. It features various graphics that are often bright and flowery while conveying a strong message and this theme is carried through in Toruño’s work in the gallery.

Toruño’s first work that stands out is the jarringly pink newspaper box titled The People’s Box. It’s a normal sized newspaper box that is painted a bright hot pink. In addition to the paint, tape is visible on the side of the door. Then on the front of the piece there are stickers resembling those that kids would use in the streets to tag public spaces and these stickers feature actual graphics of Toruño’s own street posters.

In various statements, Toruño explains the story behind this particular box. She had been searching for a newspaper box for a while and found this abandoned one out on the street. She brought it back and started working on it, however before she could finish, Toruño had to scramble to store the box elsewhere. After reaching out to social media Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded saying the box could be kept in her office on Capitol Hill or “The people’s house”. This particular word choice seems to be reflected in the title of the work- The People’s Box. 

The newspaper box itself appears unfinished and strongly out of place for an art gallery, but it serves a purpose. The rush and scramble of efforts put into this work reflects the common struggles of immigrants to the US. People often come to live here and not knowing what is happening or what is going to happen, they simply have to adapt and move forward without knowing where they’re going. Through experiences of displacement, Toruño uses her works as a way to communicate with and for those of similar experiences.

For more information on Connected Diaspora: Central American Visuality in the Age of Social Media and related events, visit https://thestamp.umd.edu/stamp_gallery