On Sunday at the John Slade Ely House, the beer and appetizers were laid out for a big, bustling crowd. But it was clear when the sound of African drums spilled out onto Trumbull Street that this was not another Super Bowl party. Imna Arroyo’s reception for her vivid new show “Breaking the Silence” fulfilled its promise quite literally with singing, drumming and dancing.
p(clear). 
Passing through the converted Elizabethan mansion’s double doors, visitors were confronted by a throng of pounding feet, including those of the artist. Arroyo’s idea of an art show is certainly a little unusual; she attributes this multi-sensory style to the influences of her native Puerto Rico as well as Cuba. In those countries, “it’s not only about the visual, but you also have music and movement. In Cuba, a show always starts with music and dancing.”
p(clear). 
Of course the show wasn’t only about the dancing. Visitors also enjoyed delicious Caribbean food, and there was even some art to see, as well. Passing through each room, visitors examined much the work Arroyo has completed during the past six years. Ranging over two floors, the show includes massive, dramatic silk screens of African deities, hand crafted paper and metallic-fabric boats floating near waves of blue cloth, a multimedia presentation, and perhaps most memorably, a space filled with disembodied heads.
p(clear). 
In a single room upstairs, Arroyo installed 27 life-sized high-gloss glazed clay busts with detached hands, each seemingly imbedded in the hardwood floor on sea of blue silk. Like the rest of the show, this exhibit draws on Arroyo’s dual Puerto Rican and African heritage. Titled “Ancestors of the Passage”, the piece alludes to the Middle Passage, referring to the practice of forcing Africans to cross the Atlantic Ocean as cargo to be sold into slavery. “They are people that died in the Middle Passage — emerging from the water to remind us of their gifts,” Arroyo explains. Her work conceives of the Middle Passage as a recurring, haunting link between Africa and the Americas.
p(clear). 
Almost as arresting are the giant silk screens two of which are situated along the staircase. Measuring four by 17 feet, these depict the waves of the Atlantic, this time dotted with skulls. Arroyo chuckled as she explained that much of her large scale pieces essentially take over her house as she works. “They must really love me,” she mused, referring to her family, “to put up with it.”
p(clear). She also noted that such work “emulates narrative by creating a journey for the viewer.” The layout of the exhibition echoes that function of the larger works, with each room guiding the viewer’s exploration of a different major work or group of works.
p(clear). 
Annette Dudley, an art teacher at King Robinson, noted that the show gets away from the walls. Many of the pieces hang from threads in the ceiling, while others have been carefully positioned on the floor. According to Dudley, the three-dimensional installations are aggressively “in your face, but in a very elegant way.”
p(clear). Dudley is one of many New Haven teachers who will bring her art classes on a field trip to see the exhibit this month. The program was organized by Nilda Morales, arts supervisor for New Haven public schools and a friend of the artist. Arroyo is a teacher, as well, and chairs the visual arts department at Eastern Connecticut State University.
p(clear). On February 10 at 2 p.m., Arroyo will give a talk on the exhibition at the John Slade Ely House. Like the reception, this event will be free and open to the public. Arroyo is also participating in a Latin American show that opens February 23rd at the Lyman Allen Museum.
p(clear). Around 5 o’clock, many people began to trickle out the door, but the artist had a few parting words for one younger visitor. He stared resolutely at his shoes, but found the courage to ask, “When did you start making art?” She responded, “A long, long time ago, when I was very young, about your age.”
p(clear). Click on the play arrow below to watch a video clip from the event.
