Art Exhibit: ‘Urban Devotions, Images of Faith in the City’

The Refuge Gallery at the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) is pleased to invite the Fordham University community to our spring photography exhibition, “Urban Devotions,” featuring Bronx-born visual journalist and former New York Times Bronx Bureau Chief David Gonzalez. His show was recently featured at Lincoln Center and now lives at Rose Hill until May 1st.

About “Urban Devotions” photo exhibition at the Refuge Gallery:
New York has been a city of faith, whether it’s small devotions in unexpected nooks or bold public declarations of belief. And with a global city reshaped every few generations, traditions offer a familiar and comforting touch, if not hope itself, in every corner of the city if you look. Indeed, as the writer Oscar Hijuelos once said to me about New Yorkers who go about their days oblivious to the nuances of faith: “They are like tone-deaf. They hear a piano being played and they only hear ‘thunka-thunk.’ There is this wild jazz going on called religion and some people don’t have the chops.”
-David Gonzalez

To visit:
From now until May 1st, the Refuge Gallery will stay open for viewing by appointment at brcahill@fordham.edu and refugegallery@fordham.edu Monday – Thursday during regular business hours. Canisius Hall is just outside the Pedestrian Entrance and Fordham Regional Parking Facility at 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY. We strongly encourage class visits. See directions and learn more about the Refuge Gallery here.

About David Gonzalez
David Gonzalez is a journalist at The New York Times. Among other posts, he has been the Times Bronx Bureau Chief, the “About New York” Columnist, and the Central America and Caribbean Bureau Chief. His coverage has ranged from the Oklahoma city bombing and Haiti’s humanitarian crises, to chronicling how the Bronx emerged from years of official neglect, to in-depth reports on how Latino immigration is shaping the United States. In addition to his print reporting, Gonzalez is a photographer and was the co-editor of the Times Lens Blog, which was once the premier internet site for photojournalists from around the world.

In 2009, Gonzalez and five fellow photographers—Angel Franco, Joe Conzo Jr., Ricky Flores, Francisco Molina Reyes II, and Edwin Pagán—formed a collective known as Seis del Sur (Six from the South), with the shared goal of documenting the life of the South Bronx which they had all witnessed, particularly from the 1970s through the early 1990s.