Praxis is pleased to present What a Part of the Apartment Meant, a solo exhibition by artist Melissa Misla. The show will open from Thursday, September 15th, to Saturday, November 12th, 2022.

The opening reception will be on Thursday, September 15th, from 6 to 8 pm.

Our hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm, at 501 W 20th Street, New York, NY, 10011.

“Amidst the ever changing city, I have remained in the same apartment in Queens for over twenty-eight years. As my work pays homage to past Latinx spaces, I created a series rendering my childhood home before I leave it behind.

What a Part of the Apartment Meant is a series of mixed media paintings of my home created as I transition out of it and the parts of it I take with me. Valuing a childlike perspective, each work has vivid colors, textures, and an opportunity to curiously explore the scenes.

Based on photos and memory, I depict each room around the liminal time of 1999-2000. I use paint, design, collaged material, tile, and found objects to address the collective narrative of transitioning into adulthood.

Each part of the series captures fragments of personal references, while honoring the collective aesthetic of the Nuyorican interior. The focus on each separate room, the mosaic tile, the items behind open doors, and the stacked pieces recall such themes of the varied parts of a whole Nuyorican culture and the duality of the Latinx identity.”

Melissa Misla, NY, 2022.