Exploring the experiential, poetic, unseen and simple, The Unseen Island is an exhibition about how the poetic can choose its time and place to reveal itself. The show features three Salt Spring artists: Eli Horn, James K-M, and Denise Okan and is curated by Juan Carlos Rodriguez Valdés.
The Unseen Island, ArtSpring Gallery, Art Spring Island, BC, September 5-21, 2025.
- Opening reception Friday Sept. 5th, from 6-8 pm
- Music by Graham Van Pelt
- Introducing The Indefinite Threeatre Performance Art Company
The exhibition presents new video, photography, painting, and sculpture. A video by Juan Carlos Rodriguez Valdés is also shown along with a collaboration piece created on Salt Spring Island with James K-M.
The show has a strong international connection through curator Juan Carlos Rodríguez Valdés from Pinar del Rio, Cuba. In advance of The Unseen Island, all three artists participated in his Complicit Landscapes project as part of the Farmacia project in Pinar del Rio. Rodríguez Valdés is in residence on Salt Spring from Cuba for the exhibition.
Juan Carlos participates in the opening, in the gallery, and on the artist panel on September 13 from 1:30-3:30 pm.
The exhibiting artists and curator are available for discussion during gallery hours. Artists and young artists are welcome to arrange an appointment to discuss their work, as future exhibitions are in development. Email: info@unseenisland.com
- OPENING: September 5, 6-8 pm
- DATES: September 5-21, 2025, 10 AM-4 pm daily. (Closing 2 pm, Sept. 21)
- ARTIST PANEL: September 13, 1:30-3:30 pm
- DISCUSSION and mentoring: by appointment
The Unseen Island is grateful for the support of Salt Spring Arts, Country Grocer, and Farmacia (Cuba).
Save the dates! Set your reminders! Spread the word! Website: unseenisland.com
Prior to the exhibition, Juan Carlos gave a talk on Art and Ancestral Memory at the Salt Spring Island Library on August 17th.
Juan Carlos Rodríguez Valdés is a Cuban visual artist, curator, and educator. Director of the Pinar del Río Art Museum since 2008, he uses diverse media to explore cultural memory with metaphysical, philosophical, anthropological, and Jungian psychological themes. His work has been featured in multiple Havana Biennials and earned him the Cuban Prize for Visual Arts in 2007.
In his presentation, he discussed how ancestral wisdom continues to inform contemporary artistic practice. He shared the development of his life’s work through an anthropological, psychological, philosophical, and poetic lens. Working across video, photography, installations, and performance, he explores ways that art connects us to the roots that define our identity.
Juan Carlos also presented his influential Farmacia project, which uses art as a healing process to reintegrate humanity with nature. Drawing on ancestral memory and imagination, this vision has evolved through educational programs and gained international recognition at the Havana Biennial, offering a poetic path back to our essential connection with the earth.
Link here for the event poster – iincludes bio for Juan Carlos and description of the work.
