Hamptons-Based Artists Banding Together For “Hybrid Resonance” Benefit Exhibition

East Hampton-based art consultant and curator Esperanza Leon is raising awareness for her birthplace, Venezuela – where eight out of ten people live in poverty – during Hybrid Resonance, a group exhibition and charity event.

“Having been born in Venezuela, although I was raised in East Hampton, I have maintained a close connection to my birth country – I still have family and friends there,” Leon explained. “I have felt powerless witnessing the drastic decline, the nightmare that Venezuela is living.”

Many of those that reside in the South America country suffer from extreme food and medicine shortages, with approximately 4.5 million of 31 million Venezuelans having access to just one meal a day. Since 2015, the United Nations estimates that 3 million people have left Venezuela.

To raise awareness and funding, Leon has enlisted over a dozen local artists who will exhibit their works at Ashawagh Hall in Springs from Friday, April 5 through Sunday, April 7. Through Hybrid Resonance, Leon hopes to raise funds that will be used towards providing food and medication for hundreds to thousands of people in need, and also offer assistance to those who have fled to Colombia.

“This is an opportunity to make a small impact and I am certain our community will respond generously,” Leon shared.

Featured artists will include Gustavo Bonevardi, Aner Candelario, Darlene Charneco, Nadine Daskaloff, Dinorah Delfin, Sara Mejia Kriendler, Walt Lindveld, Mago, Dalton Portella, Maria Schon, E. Osbaldo Segura, Aurelio Torres, and Alex Vignoli.

“I have been overwhelmed by the positive response, not only from the artists whom I’ve asked to be a part of this, who’ve immediately and enthusiastically agreed to support the cause by exhibiting and selling their artworks, but also from persons who’ve heard about this effort and instantly respond with, ‘We’ll be there!'” Leon noted.

The weekend at Ashawagh Hall will serve as a celebration of Venezuelan culture, revovling around “the hybrid nature and resonances of Latin-American art and culture.”

Hybrid Resonance will commence with a Preview Event on Friday, from 7 to 9 p.m. The Preview will include live music, food, and drink- all of which will boast Venezuelan flavor – and admission is a $20 donation. The exhibition will be on display from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, with an Opening Event – that will include a raffle – from 5 to 8 p.m. On Sunday, Hybrid Resonance can be seen from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Leon will host a Talk and Tour, covering the current situation in Venezuela and the artists she collaborates with who are living through this crisis, at 11 a.m. and a Family Fun time, including a craft hour for children and Latin Dancing with Natalia Poggi, will begin at 2 p.m.

“The artists selected are all East End residents and invested in this community and also have a connection to Latin America, be it Brazil, Uruguay, or Colombia; three to Venezuela,” Leon added.

Approximately 40 percent of Hybrid Resonance proceeds will support selected charities that are providing aid in Venezuela and for Venezuela’s refugees, including Rescate Venezuela (rescatevenezuela.com), Alimenta la Solidaridad (alimentalasolidaridad.com), and International Rescue Committee (www.rescue.org).

Additional, several pieces featured at the pop up exhibition will showcase Venezuela’s abundant artistic and cultural heritage. There will be basketry from the Yekuana and Yanomami tribes, Pre-Columbian reproductions, folk art and other hand-crafted works created by Venezuelan artisans and designers, as well as pieces by Venezuelan artists, many of whom still reside there. The entirety of sales from these items will go directly to those artists.

Ashawagh Hall is located at 780 Springs Fireplace Road in East Hampton. For more information, visit ashawagh-hall.org.