The Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University presents Beyond the Canvas: Contemporary Art from Puerto Rico showcasing the work of Zilia Sánchez (b.1926), Julio Suárez (b.1947), Arnaldo Roche Rabell (b.1955), Pedro Vélez (b.1971), and Elsa María Meléndez (b.1974). The exhibition, on view from April 26 through July 9, coincides with the 100th anniversary of Puerto Ricans’ U.S. citizenship. Spanning several generations, these ï¬ve Puerto Rico-based artists challenge the notion of the canvas as a flat surface for painted images. Through tension-based strategies applied on the fabric—whether pulling, rubbing, folding, slashing, ripping, sewing, or warping—they lend their works a distinctive three- dimensionality. Exhibition co-curator and architect Warren James discovered this shared approach, explaining, “There is a particular way these artists in Puerto Rico are manipulating the
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