no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria

Nov 23, 2022–Apr 23, 2023

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Processing, Grieving, and Reflecting

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Seared into the minds of Puerto Ricans is the number 4,645. This figure reflects, according to Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a more accurate estimate of those who died as a direct or indirect consequence of Hurricane Maria. Until 2018, the government’s official death toll was 64, a number that not only insulted the populace with its miscalculation but also undercounted at-risk sectors that experienced increased deaths from accidents, cardiac conditions, diabetes, suicide, and even leptospirosis—a usually rare, potentially deadly, yet preventable bacterial infection spread by rats that grew prevalent in the months following the storm due to contaminated water. 

These artworks remember those lost, and examines the cycle of violence and death in the colonial territory. Please be aware that some works explore themes including suicide and trauma.

  • People on a yellow hill surround a cross and burial site.
    People on a yellow hill surround a cross and burial site.

    Armig Santos, Procesión en Vieques III, 2022. Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 × 72 in. (213.4 × 182.9 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist

  • Blue silhouettes carry a large cross and yellow flowers.
    Blue silhouettes carry a large cross and yellow flowers.

    Armig Santos, Yellow Flowers, 2022. Oil on linen, 84 × 72 in. (213.4 × 182.9 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist

  • Graphic cover of a book with red text on a black background and a sketch of a bed in white.
    Graphic cover of a book with red text on a black background and a sketch of a bed in white.

    Raquel Salas Rivera, cover of while they sleep (under the bed is another country), 2019. Paperback published by Birds, LLC, 96 pages, 9 × 5 3/8 × 1/2 in. (22.9 × 13.7 × 1.3 cm). Courtesy the artist

  • A photograph of a young girl sitting on the lap of a man at the beach. Lines of red thread are attached to the photograph.
    A photograph of a young girl sitting on the lap of a man at the beach. Lines of red thread are attached to the photograph.

    Gabriella N. Báez, stitched image (recto) from Ojalá nos encontremos en el mar (Hopefully, We’ll Meet at Sea), 2018– . Photograph and thread, 4 x 6 in. (10.1 x 15.2 cm). Collection of the artist. © 2018 Gabriella N. Báez

  • A photograph of a man and young girl with lines of red thread attached to the photograph.
    A photograph of a man and young girl with lines of red thread attached to the photograph.

    Gabriella N. Báez, stitched image (recto) from Ojalá nos encontremos en el mar (Hopefully, We’ll Meet at Sea), 2018– . Photograph and thread, 4 x 6 in. (10.1 x 15.2 cm). Collection of the artist. © 2018 Gabriella N. Báez

Artists

Explore works from this exhibition
in the Whitney's collection

View 13 works

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whathappensontheship.space/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.