Daniel Lind-Ramos: Ensamblajes

About

Nottingham Contemporary is delighted to present the first major exhibition of artist Daniel Lind- Ramos (b. 1953, Puerto Rico) in a European institution, showcasing five of the artists’ monumental sculptural assemblages, including a newly commissioned work.

Lind-Ramos lives and works in Loíza, a coastal town on the northeastern edge of Puerto Rico. The town is a hub of West African cultural traditions kept alive by the resident ‘afrodescendientes’, descendants of former enslaved people who founded Loíza in the 16th century. Lind-Ramos has spent much of his life there, immersed in the stories, history, traditions and culture passed down through generations.

The power of memory and storytelling is central to Lind-Ramos’ work. He creates evocative sculptural assemblages that reflect Puerto Rican historical and contemporary experiences, imbued with the storytelling traditions of his Afro-descendent history and inviting reflections on sustenance and the regenerative power of community. The totemic sculptures incorporate objects found washed up on beaches and mangroves local to his hometown of Loíza, or gifted from friends, family and community members. Items such as kayaks, plant material, burlap sacks, boots and mattress springs, all individually allude to fragmented stories, but when combined they conjure imagery of the artist's home, its communities, customs and land as well as its entanglement with colonial histories and global environmental disaster.

The five works, presented across two large scale galleries at Nottingham Contemporary, honour fast-disappearing local customs of agriculture, fishing and cooking, and reflect on the impacts of ongoing ecological disasters and global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.