photo_talks: What Moves You?
Christopher Gregory‑Rivera
Christopher Gregory-Rivera’s project Las Carpetas examines the bureaucratic residue of a 40-year secret surveillance program by the Puerto Rican Police Department and the FBI that aimed to destroy the Puerto Rican Independence Movement and civil rights movements in the U.S. Colony. Through still lifes, archival appropriation, and investigation, Christopher Gregory-Rivera provides a counterhistory to the way many people understand this period of time and its aftermath. By rescuing, displaying, and photographing the contents of the surveillance files, Las Carpetas questions what forces have control over what and how we remember. This project was recently exhibited at the Abrons Arts Center Main Gallery as part of La Residencia which is a collaborative residency partnership between Abrons Arts Center (New York, NY) and Pública (San Juan, PR). Christian Rodriguez leads the conversation and the Q&A after the presentation.
Christopher Gregory-Rivera is a Puerto Rican artist based in New York City. His work is particularly interested in rescuing historical narratives around power and colonialism. He has lectured at the International Center of Photography in New York and his work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. His work has been published in The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times, NPR, and National Geographic among others and has been exhibited in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Netherlands.
chrisgregory.co/carpetas/
Christian Rodriguez was born and raised in New York City by immigrants from the Dominican Republic. He spent his childhood traveling between the two islands and cultures. In high school, he attended a four-year after-school photographic residency program, NYCSalt. His passion for photography led him to study at the Savannah College of Art and Design. While away from home, he developed an infatuation for his Dominican background, leading to an interest in exploring themes of the diaspora. His photographic work focuses on issues of immigration, cultural identity, and the Dominican diaspora. Most recently his work has been published in The New York Times Magazine, as well as a piece he wrote and photographed for the opinion section for The New York Times “Sunday Review.”
