El Patio de Mi Casa

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Object Details

Artist

María Brito, born Havana, Cuba 1947

Exhibition Label

While preparing this installation Brito remembered the well-known children’s song called El patio de mi casa (The Backyard of My House). In Brito’s backyard, nature struggles to survive the uprooting of migration, here symbolized by the constricting cradle, barren tree shadows, and the cracked ground. Rain collects at the top of the wall and channels down into the sink, giving a tree sapling a chance to thrive. Brito’s humble Cuban American kitchen is a site of remembrance, transformation, and growth.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013

Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program

Copyright

Date

1990

Object number

1997.71A-G

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Sculpture-Assemblage

Medium

mixed media including acrylic paint, wood, wax, latex, gelatin silver prints and found objects

Dimensions

overall: 95 1/2 x 68 1/4 x 65 in. (242.6 x 173.4 x 165.1 cm)

See more items in

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department

Painting and Sculpture

Data Source

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Topic

Architecture Interior\domestic\kitchen

Object\furniture\cradle

Architecture Exterior\detail\patio

Metadata Usage

Not determined

Link to Original Record

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7fa59749a-30a1-4fde-b1bb-1b975527b657

Record ID

saam_1997.71A-G