Mexico/Staten Island: Photographs of a Community

Irma Bohórquez-Geisler, Photographer

Edward J. Sullivan, Curator

“The work in this exhibition open our eyes to the everyday customs and individuals who comprise the Mexican community on Staten Island, New York.”

Irma Bohórquez-Geisler is a photographer, educator, biologist, and a cultural leader for Mexican-Americans on Staten Island. Irma immigrated to New York in 1991 from Mexico City. Irma’s photographs are part of her ongoing social-documentary series  “Simple Moments of an Emerging Presence” of Mexican-Americans in New York. Currently she is exhibiting at Alice Austen House Museum, and exhibited at Museum of the City of New York; Governors Island Art Fair; Hodges Gallery; Umbrella Gallery; Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Featured on The NY Times/Lens Blog 6/15/2016, “Mexicans in New York: Traditions and Turning points”, finalist in the International 5th Julia Margaret Cameron Award and 2011 and NYFA Mentoring Program for Immigrant Artists. In 2011, City Councilwoman Debi Rose conferred on Irma the “Staten Island Women Who Preserve History”.

She is Founder, Artistic and Program Director of the annual Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Staten Island, established in 1992, and 2016 commemorates the 24th anniversary of this festival. Publishes credits include, The New York Times, Staten Island Advance, La Jornada, El Diario/La Prensa, El Diario de México Edición USA and Staten Island Arts. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecological Entomology from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Autonomous University of Mexico City (UNAM).

Presented by : The Consulate General of Mexico in New York, Celebrate Mexico Now Festival and The Mexican Cultural Institute New York, 2016