Burnaway

For Burnaway’s SCHOOLHOUSE theme feature, Jackson Markovic () examines cultural difference and depictions of archetypal Southern art in the 2005 film “Junebug”.

“In the film, Johnsten’s brief immersion into Winston-Salem through her new husband’s family commands most of the plot as the dealer of “visionary art” visits the American South for the first time. The paintings as props are also subject to their own complexity, created by artist Ann Wood under the direction of Morrison. Cultural differences are unveiled and challenged through narrative, yet the differences incite reverence and fascination.”

Click the link in our profile to the read more.

We will also be hosting a screening of the film at the Plaza Theatre () on June 2 at 7:30PM. Event details can also be found through the link in our profile!
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1. David Wark’s front yard in Junebug, dir. Phil Morrison, 2005. Image courtesy of Filmgrab, © Epoch Films (). 2. Madeleine Johnsten visiting David Wark’s home in Junebug, dir. Phil Morrison, 2005. Image courtesy of Filmgrab, © Epoch Films.

We’re excited to announce that curator and writer Marina Reyes Franco (.visitoreconomy) will be our first 2026 Art Writing Incubator speaker on July 11!

Just a reminder that AWrI applications are due on Friday, May 15; application and information can be found at the link in bio!
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Marina Reyes Franco is an independent curator and writer based in Puerto Rico. She was previously the Curator at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico (MAC). She received a BA in Art History from the University of Puerto Rico and an M.A. in Argentine and Latin American Art History at IDAES-UNSAM in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2010, she co-founded La Ene, an itinerant museum and collection. Projects at MAC include “MAR ADENTRO”, “Sunlight on the Sea Floor” (an ICI traveling exhibition co-curated with Paula Naughton), “Puerto Rico Negrx” (co-curated with María Elena Ortiz), “Liberar la luz (Liberating Light)“, “Foreign in a Domestic Sense”, and “Tropical Is Political: Caribbean Art Under the Visitor Economy Regime” (in collaboration with Americas Society) and “El momento del yagrumo”, as well as artistic commissions by Daniel Lind Ramos, Sofía Córdova, Tony Cruz Pabón, Julianny Ariza, Ulrik López Medel, and Eliazar Ortiz Roa. As an independent curator, she developed Resisting Paradise, at Publica, San Juan and Fonderie Darling, Montreal; Watch your step / Mind your head, ifa-Galerie Berlin; The 2nd Grand Tropical Biennial in Loiza, Puerto Rico; Caliban, MAC in San Juan; C32: Sucursal, MALBA in Buenos Aires, and numerous exhibitions at La Ene. As curator and researcher, she is dedicated to creating exhibitions and leading collaborative projects that establish aesthetic relations between artists, history, and culture, often highlighting underrepresented histories. She has focused on the work of Esteban Valdés, artistic and literary manifestations on the frontier of political action, and the impact of tourism in cultural production in the Caribbean. She is an alumna of ICI’s Curatorial Intensive and the Center for Curatorial Leadership.
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Photo by Argenis Apolinario () and courtesy of Marina Reyes Franco.

Isabella Marie Garcia () analyzes privilege and representation as they relate to depictions of Lucumí and Abakuá spirituality in Cuban art and within Miami museum exhibitions featuring the work of Belkis Ayón and Elliot & Erick Jiménez ().

“Like the royal velvet curtains that drape the exhibition walls, real and makeshift, El Monte was a stage in which to perform an outsider-looking-in aesthetic body of work that was akin to an editorial assignment but this time, extracted from the faith of a closed loved one and distilled across time and distance from the root. Ayón’s own distance to the Abakuá was never a hindrance to creating a work that was removed of colonial art references and lived experience, excelling instead at imagining without pretense.”

Read more from the feature at the link in bio.
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1. Elliot & Erick Jiménez, “Ibejí Altar”, 2025, archival pigment prints on canvas, crystals, Harvey Probber walnut console with custom granite top, Noel Rabior nineteenth-century bronze ashtrays, antique brass hand k***s, and brass candle holders with candles, 29 x 33 x 13 inches wooden base; 1 1/2 x 33 x 13 inches granite top; 60 x 33 inches arched canvas piece. Photograph by Zachary Barber and image courtesy of Pérez Art Museum Miami. 2. Belkis Ayón, “My Vernicle o tu amor me condena [My Vernicle or Your Love Condemns Me]“, 1998, collagraph; collection of Ariel and Daphna Bentata. Photograph by Oriol Tarridas and image courtesy of Belkis Ayón Estate, David Castillo, and Museum of Art & Design at Miami Dade College, Miami. 3. Elliot & Erick Jiménez, “El pequeño gigante (The Little Giant)“, 2025, archival pigment print on canvas, installed in nineteenth-century French tabernacle with candle, 54 x 34 x 16 inches. Photograph by Zachary Barber and image courtesy of Pérez Art Museum Miami.