Caleb Hahne Quintana, Bernadette Despujols, and Esteban Cabeza De Baca Come Together to Show at Newchild

The Antwerp-based gallery Newchild opens a new group show, “The Salt Of Two Seas” of artists Caleb Hahne Quintana, Bernadette Despujols, and Esteban Cabeza De Baca exploring and fostering a sense of identity and belonging as Latinx artists.

Collectively, the artists create a critique of how land has historically been portrayed, resulting in feelings of being othered and alienated. Although the artists share similar feelings around these themes, their longing for diversity was discovered through their individual artistic approaches.

Quintana's work displays a Southwestern atmosphere through arid landscapes and earth tones. He focuses on discovering personal stories of relatives and his ancestors, such as Limpia II, a traditional cleansing ceremony with a curandero or shaman.

Despujols is a multimedia artist whose work draws on women’s societal self-perceptions and cross-cultural expectations. She uses the body as the main way to dissect this personal narrative presented in an atypical composition and distorted viewpoints. The use of personal photos creates tension and introspection.

De Baca examines spatiotemporal amalgamation through non-hierarchal images of vivid Southwestern landscapes. Ultima (2022), a piece that will be on view, shows the intricate relationship between Indigenous knowledge and Catholicism, which resulted from Spanish colonization.

The Salt of Two Seas will be on view at Newchild from March 22 to May 28. The importance of finding cultural belonging to heal through visual language offers all of the artists and viewers a look into the past, present, and future to imagine new post-colonial worlds.