Artist Talk and Opening Reception: Erick Antonio Benitez

The Gallery at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design presents a solo exhibition of Erick Antonio Benitez: Esta Tierra es Tu Tierra (This Land is Your Land) with Artist Talk Friday, Dec. 6, at 4 p.m. and a public reception that evening from 5-8 p.m.

Benitez is a first-generation Salvadorian-American who earned his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. His work deals with the human intervention of the natural environment and the social- political connotations of immigrations and it will be on display Nov. 25, 2019, through Jan. 12, 2020.

Esta Tierra es Tu Tierra is an immersive multimedia installation focusing on Benitez’s travels throughout multiple cities on the U.S./Mexico border. Video projections, soundscapes, and found objects illustrate Benitez’s encounters, recreating the sights, sounds, and sentiments of the border for viewers in the Northeast who are far from territories of dualities and national divide. Benitez incorporates interviews with border agents, migrants, and minutemen, along with photographs of migrant shelters, Tent City Jail in Arizona, and Friendship Park in Tijuana. Benitez’s recreation of the U.S./Mexico border experience within an exhibition space emulates an ofrenda (offering) to those who have lost their lives on their journey to the United States.