Carmen Maria Machado Curates Rocío García at Leslie-Lohman Museum

Writer Carmen Maria Machado has curated "The Object of Power is Power," a one-room exhibition of paintings by Cuban artist Rocío García at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in Soho. The show, titled after a George Orwell quote from "1984," features García's large-scale canvases that explore sexuality, power, and migration. Machado, known for her short stories and memoir "In the Dream House" (2020), collaborated with Head Curator Stamatina Gregory. García, now in her 70s, studied at the Repin Academy (now Imperial Academy of Arts) in Saint Petersburg and draws inspiration from Japanese history, Matisse, and film noir. The exhibition includes works from 2006 to 2023, such as "La Bella Samurai" (2021), "Tocando la Luna" (2021), and the triptych "Like the Last Blues" (2006). Machado wrote the wall text, posing questions about pleasure and terror. The show was organized amid the ongoing U.S. embargo against Cuba, which made sourcing works difficult. Machado has previously collaborated with artists Ilana Savdie, Hugh Hayden, and Deborah Zlotsky. She is working on a new novel about lesbians during fascism.