Karen Cintron and Matt Greco 
Also of Hope and Aspiration Do We Live 
De Ilusión También Se Vive 
November 9, 2013 - January 4, 2014 
Meet The Artists November 16th Noon-4pm 
Reception & Artist Talk December 7th, 2013 5-8pm
"Also of Hope and Aspiration Do We Live", or De Ilusión También Se Vive, a Spanish expression which roughly translates to life is not only about “getting there” but also about “dreaming of getting there”. This residency and exhibition of photography and recorded interviews explores and celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of Port Chester's immigrant owned businesses, especially although not exclusively the Latin American community. Port Chester has long been a thriving immigrant community, from Italian and Polish to the vibrant Mexican, Central and South American community of today.  Some have struggled while others have flourished, some have followed while others have led, but all have hope and desire.  Karen Cintron and Matt Greco will spend their residency interviewing and photographing the people in the immigrant businesses of Port Chester, creating a visual and sound archive of the faces and spaces of this diverse,  thriving river town. In the gallery they will invite the business people and their families to collaborate in creating an exhibition in both sound and photo, showing the faces and lives of our community.
Karen Cintron, born in Peru, feels a connection to Peru and its traditions. Cintron’s work experiments with different kinds of mediums and methodologies that investigate and express the historical, cultural and technical aspects of South American traditional crafts with an emphasis on Peru. Creating work with a high level of handcraft, focus, precision and patience, she embodies the “chosen women”, or in Quechua the “Aclla Cuna”, who, during the time of the Inca, wove the ritual garments worn by royalty and were celebrated and esteemed for their talent.  
Matt Greco considers himself a student of human behavior, and an amateur scientist. Interested in the complexity of systems, the elegance in the universe, and the interactions between invisible forces, he builds with his hands, finding the familiar and comfortable in making. The preparation, the hard work, the tactility of materials, all speak of how an amazement in the working of the world. Together they bring an entrepreneurial artistic spirit to this exploration of Port Chester’s thriving communities.
Featuring guest artist Shayok Mukhopadhyay.