Kandy G Lopez

ACA Galleries is pleased to present “Kandy G Lopez: Situational Identity, New Works in Fiber,” the first New York solo exhibition by Lopez, who is now represented by the gallery. This exhibition also marks the inaugural show in the gallery’s new second location at 173 Tenth Avenue (20th Street) in Chelsea. As a multi-media Afro-Caribbean American portrait artist, Lopez explores identity through marginalized individuals who represent her community. Navigating through her own identity has inspired works from a variety of mediums to further the conversation of “otherness” with metaphorical and psychological significance. “This exhibition is influenced by Ginetta Candelario’s essay entitled Black behind my Ears: Dominican Racial Identity from Museums to Beauty Shops,” shares Lopez. “According to the text, hair for Dominicans is a signifier for ancestry, race, class, and gender. Hair characteristics and style tell us a lot about a person and determines privileges along with the preferred look of ‘Hispanic’— European + African = ideal beauty. Complicating the matter further, once Dominicans come to the US, their skin color puts them in a new classification of otherness. Depending on the situation, immigrants and many minorities in this country switch roles, and their identity becomes situational.” Kandy G Lopez (b. New Jersey) lives and works in Fort Lauderdale. Selected solo exhibitions include “(in)visibility: cache,” NSU Art Museum of Fort Lauderdale (2023); “Phenomenal Woman,” Miramar Cultural Center (2023); “Intersectionality”, Coral Spring Museum of Art (2023); “(in)visible: Code-Switching,” Girls Club Warehouse, Fort Lauderdale (2022); “(in)visibility: Yup-Pity,” Frank C Ortis Gallery (Third Space), Pembroke Pines (2022). Lopez’s work has been included in group exhibitions at Kinfolk House, Armory Art Center, New Bedford Art Museum, and Studio 18. Lopez received the Broward County Cultural Division Artist Innovation Grant for 2022–2023 and the Project Row House Grant in 2022. She has also been awarded residencies at Nacan in the Dominican Republic (2023), Ucross in Wyoming (2022), Hambidge in Rabun County, Georgia (2021), and Stay Home Gallery & Artist Residency in Paris, Tennessee (2021).