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Cardinal Points/Puntos Cardinales: A Survey of Contemporary Latino and Latin American Art from the Sprint Nextel Art Collection highlights 55 two-dimensional works, including photographs, prints, paintings, and mixed media by Latin American and Latino artists in the United States. The artwork and the bilingual exhibition text in English and Spanish introduce a broad audience to the most dominant themes and creative approaches in art produced over the last two decades in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and the United States.

The cardinal points are the four principal points of the compass. They are used in mapping and for finding one’s way; throughout history, cultures have also assigned different values, symbolic meanings, and imagery to each direction. This exhibition employs the concept of cardinal points to survey some of the key ways that contemporary Latino and Latin American artists have used to “map” or examine their personal and cultural identities, histories, values, and the world around them.

The bilingual exhibition gallery texts and catalog will include a discussion of the evolution of Latin American art over the last few decades, underscoring the fact that the Latino and Latin American worlds comprise myriad ethnic groups, cultures, histories, and intellectual viewpoints. By extension, art produced by Latinos and Latin Americans is extremely diverse in approach, subject matter, and media. This exhibition provides an introduction to only some of this work and will hopefully encourage viewers to seek out and learn more about this incredibly rich aspect of the visual arts.

The exhibition is divided into four sections or points: The Figure as Symbol; Nature, Seen and Transformed; Mapping the Real Imaginary; and Narratives. Among the most well-known artists in the exhibition are Mario Algaze, Luis Cruz Azaceta, Laura Anderson Barbata, José Bedia, María Martínez Cañas, Hector Méndez Caratini, Enrique Chagoya, Carmen Lomas Garza, Salomón Huerta, Graciela Iturbide, Perla Krauze, Francisco Castro Leñero, Marcelo Pombo, Freddy Rodriguez, Andres Serrano, Ray Smith, Patssi Valdez, and Mariana Yampolsky. 

Cardinal Points/Puntos Cardinales: A Survey of Contemporary Latino and Latin American Art from the Sprint Nextel Art Collection is curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, consultant for Latin American art, Sprint Nextel Art Collection, in conjunction with James Martin, Curator, Sprint Nextel Art Collection. Ferrer formerly served as director of the Austin Museum of Art in Texas and as the director of the visual arts department and curator of the gallery at the Americas Society in New York. She has curated and published extensively on contemporary art and Latin American art in particular. Martin is the former assistant curator of modern and contemporary art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.