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MOCA 2021 Student Artist-in-Residence creates pieces highlighting ‘Cultural Polarity’

Portrait of Anderson Goncalves. Photo credit Christopher Williams.MOCA Jacksonville, a cultural institute of the University of North Florida, is currently showcasing artistic works from the 2021 UNF Student Artist-in-Residence, Anderson Goncalves.

Goncalves is a painting, drawing, and printmaking major at UNF who uses a wide range of media and techniques such as screen printing, collage/chine-collé, fabric and oil/acrylic painting. Examining his experience growing up learning to navigate two completely different cultures and respective languages, the African, Portuguese speaking Angolan culture and the US culture, Goncalves expresses the struggle with miscommunication, isolation and underrepresentation that often come with being a first-generation immigrant through his art.  

Inspired, in part, by Kara Walker's use of storytelling and Kerry James Marshall's use of black figures, Goncalves' exhibition, titled "Cultural Polarity”, depicts this journey on a series of wooden panels.

The Student Artist-in-Residence is a highly competitive opportunity that awards access to a MOCA Jacksonville studio and exhibition space to complete a new body of work and hone skills over the course of a final semester. The residency is open to UNF students who will be in their final year at UNF and enrolled in Fine Art or Photography Portfolio during either the fall 2022 or spring 2023 semester. The residency will culminate in an exhibition at MOCA to showcase and celebrate the student’s work from April through September 2023. Interested UNF students can find more information via the website.

To view Goncalves’ work, visit the museum in-person at their downtown location or access the MOCA website.