The Conexión exhibition opening at the Museum of Modern Art

The Ministry of culture, through the Museum of modern art (MAM), in collaboration with the Embassy of the United States of America, the Falcondo Foundation and the Altos de Chavón Cultural Center Foundation, inaugurated the " Conexión ", exhibition by artists Jeffrey Mongrain and Nicholas Kripal.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition of contemporary sculpture took place at the Sótano of the MAM and was presided over American artists Jeffrey Mongrain and Nicholas Kripal; the Director of the MAM María Elena Ditrén, and cultural managers Samantha Sánchez and Ezequiel Taveras.

While saying the welcome speech, María Elena Ditrén, director of the Museum of modern art (MAM), said that "connecting the artistic production of two creators through various resources as sculpture, the material and philosophical conceptual trend suggests a connection to the highest spiritual level by combining their manners of creating as scholars and researchers related to the artistic creation through a traditional material such as ceramics whose history is linked to the" history of mankind, which covers the evolution of the art of all times".

Taveras, curator of the exhibition, pointed out that “Conexión proves once again that peoples can unite themselves through the art. It eliminates all kind of the territorial limitations created by borders, linguistic differences, the cultural conflicts, thus creating a new link that only exists through the excitement of the aesthetic approach of art itself."

Artist Jeffrey Mongrain was born in Minnesota, United States of America. It is a renowned American sculptor with a wide international experience, being known for his work on religious and spiritual spaces. He received his MFA from the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and his BFA from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

He has been a Professor and head of the master of sculpture at Hunter College, in New York since 1995 and has recently been promoted to distinguished professor. His most recent exhibitions include the Museum of Art and Design, in New York (three-year); Museum für Angewandte Kunst, in Frankfurt, Germany (three-year); the biennial Berlin, in Germany; the Museum of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates (biennial); and the Museum of sacred art of San Gabriele, in Teramo, Italy.

Nicholas Kripal was born in the United States of America. He is a sculptor who uses the ceramics as a source for making sculpture installations, creating atmospheres and intervening spaces. He is director of the Department of art, in the Temple University, Philadelphia. He is in charge of the Ceramics Program of the Art Department at this University since 1985, and Vice President of Crane Arts LLC. He received his MFA at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; a master's degree in arts education at the University of Nebraska, in Kearney; and his BFA in ceramics at the University of Nebraska, in Kearney.

He carried out his latest space interventions in Glasgow, Scotland; Kristus Kircke, Cologne, Germany; Sala Uno, Rome, Italy; The Cathedral of the San Juan el Divino, in New York. Together with the sculptor Jeffrey Mongrain has created installations for the Church of San Patricio, Indianapolis; and Corpus Christ Church, in Baltimore.

While his most recent personal exhibitions were carried out in Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven; The Casa Principal Museum and Jardín de Esculturas, in Xalapa, Mexico; the Diego Rivera Museum, Guanajuato, Mexico; and the art gallery of the University of Newcastle, in Australia.

In the context of the exhibition they carried out the "Theoretical Panel" in charge of Jeffrey Mongrain, Nicholas Kripal and Amable López Meléndez, on February 12, at 7:00 pm local time, in which the artists presented their points of view about the sculpture, its influences and different precursors.

Also, they carried out the "workshop for children” that took place on February 13, from 9:30 am to 12:30 local time, with boys and girls, from 9 to 11 years from Doña Chucha school and Nuris Campusano Zarzuela school under the theme Tile Ceramico, as a tribute and continuity of the fifth global triennial, which is still opened on the first floor of the Museum of Modern Art.

The Museum of Modern Art of the Dominican Republic is opened from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is located on the Pedro Henríquez Ureña Avenue, Plaza de la Cultura Juan Pablo Duarte, in Santo Domingo.