PHOTOFAIRS New York

Bockley Gallery is pleased to announce Cara Romero’s solo presentation with Fotografiska at PHOTOFAIRS New York.

PHOTOFAIRS New York and the international photography museum Fotografiska New York feature a special solo presentation by Romero as part of the fair’s Partner Program, for which Romero creates surreal and vibrant portraits that enact an Indigenous Futurity, tethered to Indigenous sciences and knowledges. 

In a photographic practice that blends documentary and commercial aesthetics, Romero (Chemehuevi Indian Tribe) creates stories that draw from intertribal knowledge to expose the fissures and fusions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and futurity. In the artist’s words: “I have worked for many years within the complex intersection of contemporary Native life and modernity. Recently, I’ve been working in the genre of Indigenous Futurism—art that imagines an unlimited future while we resist being relegated to the past. These works come from a personal place of regenerative thoughts and active resilience. As we (Natives) continue to heal from past and ongoing traumas, we move from surviving to thriving. We are now in a creative space to imagine our futures while remembering all of our gifts granted by the sacrifices of those that came before us. We address themes like the futurity of precious Native life ways, our climate and Mother Earth, bringing balance and women’s leadership, and speculative fantasy with what feels like hope.”

Fotografiska is also collaborating with PHOTOFAIRS New York on a dynamic conversation series engaging a group of thought leaders in the field. Romero will be in conversation with Fotografiska’s director, Amanda Hajjar, on Saturday, September 9, at 2 PM at PHOTOFAIRS’s Project Lounge. The two will delve into Romero’s playful and imaginative images, bringing Indigenous knowledges, sciences, and culture in the 21st century to the forefront. An installation of Romero’s work will be exhibited at Fotografiska museum following the fair presentation. 

Cara Romero, an enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, was raised between the rural Chemehuevi reservation in California’s Mojave Desert and the urban sprawl of Houston. She is based in Sante Fe and represented by Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis. Romero has held solo exhibitions in the US, UK, and Germany. Her recent group exhibitions include Our Selves: Photographs by Women Photographers, Museum of Modern Art and Water Memories, Metropolitan Museum of Art (2022). Her public art projects include #TONGVALAND, presented in Los Angeles by NDN Collective (2021); Restoration: Now or Never with Save Art Space, London (2020), and Desert X in the Coachella Valley (2019). Widely collected, Romero’s photographs are in private and public collections including the Denver Art Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and others.

Fotografiska New York is the New York location of the renowned Stockholm-based destination for the world’s best photography. Founded in 2010, Fotografiska was built on the foundation of photography as a haven for inclusivity and freedom of expression. With a goal to inspire a more conscious world through the art of photography, Fotografiska showcases the greatest photographers, whether they are emerging artists or already established internationally. The museum creates powerful and unparalleled rotating displays of photography, spanning various genres, in immersive environments. 

PHOTOFAIRS New York is a new contemporary art fair dedicated to photo-based works, digital art and new media. Taking place at the Javits Center, on Manhattan’s West Side, the Fair features a highly curated selection of exhibitors from around the world, presenting a state-of-the-art view of visual culture. The fair provides a dedicated space for galleries and audiences to explored the diverse and rapidly evolving landscape of image-making, from modern examples, to contemporary intersections with digital art and film, to the medium’s next frontiers. The Fair connects collectors and visitors with international galleries and boundary-pushing artists, inviting discourse and interaction. 

Jarvits Center