NEW YORK, NY.- Abrons Arts Center presents "Christopher Gregory-Rivera: Las Carpetas" -- a new exhibition that examines the bureaucratic residue of a 40-year-long secret surveillance program by the Puerto Rican Police Department and the FBI that aimed to destroy the Puerto Rican Independence Movement. The exhibition will be on view from January 14-March 14th at Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street at Pitt Street).

Through still-lives, archival appropriation, and investigation, Christopher Gregory-Rivera provides a counter-history to the way many understand this period of time and its aftermath. By rescuing, displaying, and photographing the contents of the surveillance files, Las Carpetas questions what forces have control over what and how we remember.

Curated by Natalia Viera Salgado, as part of La Residencia - a co-located residency program in partnership with Pública, a cultural space in Santurce, Puerto Rico.

Las Carpetas is presented by the Abrons Arts Center La Residencia which is acollaborative residency partnership between Abrons Arts Center (New York, NY) and Pública (San Juan, PR), made possible with funds provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This exhibition was also made possible with support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Christopher Gregory-Rivera is a Puerto Rican artist based in New York City. His work is particularly interested in rescuing historical narratives around power and colonialism. He has lectured at the International Center of Photography in New York and his work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. He has been shown in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Netherlands.

Natalia Viera Salgado is a Puerto Rican curator and curatorial consultant based in
New York City. She is also the co-founder of :Pública Espacio Cultural, an
independent art space in Alto del Cabro, Santurce Puerto Rico. Her art historical
research focuses on contemporary art in relation to decolonial practices,
architecture, social and environmental justice, and new media with a keen interest in hybrid and interdisciplinary projects. She has worked at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, El Museo de Barrio , Art in General, Socrates Sculpture Park and The Nathan Cummings Foundation. Viera holds a MA in Curatorial Practice from the School of Visual Arts and is currently the Assistant Curator at Americas Society, New York.