The Henry will be closed on Thu, Nov 27 in observance of Thanksgiving.

Joiri Minaya
 
Lower Level Gallery
July 25, 2026 — May 02, 2027
Joiri Minaya is a Dominican-United Statesian artist whose work destabilizes historic and contemporary representations of an imagined tropical identity. Bringing together new and existing work, this exhibition explores the ways Minaya uses the medium of textiles to question the imperial and transnational construction of a global tropical identity and landscape. The exhibition considers the production and reproduction of stereotypical images, as well as the potential for reclaiming Afro-Indigenous narratives of resistance within both political and visual, colonial and imperialist regimes, with a particular spotlight on to the role of botanicals. In new work for the exhibition, Minaya draws from local histories and connections between the Pacific and Caribbean in the fabrication of a ‘tropical international’ aesthetic. Developed in conversation with the Henry’s double-height gallery, the exhibition amplifies the dynamic processes of both performing and subverting imposed ideas of tropicality, and the potential of regenerative practices rooted in Afro-Indigenous plant knowledge.

Artist Bio

Joiri Minaya is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist who works in photography, digital media, film, performance, sculpture, textiles and painting. Born in New York and raised in the Dominican Republic, Minaya describes her multiculturally-informed work as “a reassertion of Self, an exercise of unlearning, decolonizing, and exorcizing imposed histories.” Minaya has recently been part of exhibitions and screenings at the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The 8th Floor, and Syracuse University Art Museum, as well as international exhibitions like the Prospect 6 New Orleans Triennial, the Cooper Hewitt Triennial and the Sharjah Biennial 15. She is a recent recipient of the Latinx Artist Fellowship, NYSCA / NYFA Artist Fellowship, Jerome Hill Fellowship, and Artadia award, and has been an artist in residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program, Light Work, Socrates Sculpture Park, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She's currently one of the inaugural artists in residence at the Monti Artist Studio Program in Crown Heights.
CREDITS

Joiri Minaya is curated by Jennifer Baez, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Washington, in collaboration with Nina Bozicnik, Senior Curator, Henry Art Gallery and with support from Em Chan, Curatorial Assistant, Henry Art Gallery.

Exhibitions at the Henry are made possible through the generous support of our annual sponsors, 4Culture and ArtsFund.