The Whitney Biennial's Hottest New Artist Is Also Its Oldest | Artnet News

"You set rules and then you break them of course," Guerrero said in the opening remarks at the exhibition's press preview, with Sawyer calling the pairing "such a more generative and beautiful story than I think either of us could have imagined." The curators' decision to include both mother and daughter reflected their recognition of the artistic merit and compelling narrative."

"That part of me that was no longer functioning," De Monteflores told the New York Times, "my identity is being restored as an artist." For the 92-year-old artist, experiencing her nearly 60-year-old works displayed in a major museum represents a profound personal and professional moment of recognition and validation."

"Guerrero had curated "Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985," an influential 2017 exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles that became a moment of rediscovery for a number of Latin American women artists. Fraser believed her mother could be part of that conversation, positioning De Monteflores within a broader movement of recognizing overlooked female artists."

Carmen De Monteflores, at 92 years old, is the oldest artist in the Whitney Biennial, standing out with her large, brightly colored shaped canvases in an exhibition sparse on painting. Her inclusion came through her daughter Andrea Fraser, a two-time biennial participant, who advocated for her mother's work after decades of storage in a Bay Area facility. Curators Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, impressed by De Monteflores's paintings in person, decided to include works by both mother and daughter, breaking their original rule of featuring only first-time participants. Born in Puerto Rico in 1933, De Monteflores began her artistic journey as a child through art classes and cartooning. Seeing her nearly 60-year-old paintings exhibited in a major museum represents a powerful restoration of her artistic identity.

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