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The Art Museum of WVU
Admission is always free.

Gamaliel Rodriguez

Topographies of Memory

AUGUST 21 – DECEMBER 15, 2025


This exhibition is made possible with generous support from Gloria Plevin.

Topographies of Memory is the first mid-career survey of works by artist Gamaliel Rodgriguez. Known for his striking use of color; monochromatic palette; and eerily familiar, yet non-descript landscapes, Rodgriguez’s practice pushes the boundaries of drawing. 

Rodriguez has spent much of his career examining the complexities of history, both the clarity and vagueness of memory, the fragile state of infrastructures within society, and the balance between humankind and nature. His works place these elements in conversation with one another, using his distinct aesthetic to highlight their evolving power dynamic. 

At its core, Rodriguez’s work explores the ways in which cultural heritage, displacement, and the passage of time shape not only our individual self-awareness but also our connections within our communities. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Rodriguez brings a deeply personal perspective to his studio practice and pulls much of his inspiration from the island’s beautiful history, vibrant culture and his daily life. He counterbalances this vibrancy with the numerous challenges Puerto Rico faces on a regular basis, ranging from the exploitation of natural resources to weathering the effects of climate change as well as natural and infrastructural disasters. By using these recurring challenges on the island as an inspirational cornerstone, Rodriguez prompts viewers of his work to both appreciate its beauty and reflect on a broader global reality, as the consequences of over-industrialization and climate change increasingly lead to more frequent infrastructure breakdowns and natural disasters worldwide. Rodriguez confronts themes of displacement; belonging and loss; and transformation. He delves into the fluidity of cultural identities within the diaspora by addressing the constant negotiation between home and away, vivid memories and the unfamiliar, and one’s own presence and absence in liminal space.  

This exhibition and Rodriguez’s work prompts visitors to contemplate their own personal memories of fleeting moments while also asking viewers to consider the parallels they may share with communities outside of their own. Rodriguez’s use of fragmented and snapshot-like imagery suggests the multiplicity of lived experience, inviting viewers to engage in a dialogue about how cultural identity is constructed and deconstructed over time, and how new experiences often shape and inform our life’s journeys. His works call attention to the complexity of the human condition—how history is both a source of strength and a site of struggle, how memory can simultaneously be a lens through which we view the present and a burden which prevents forward progress.   


IMAGE CREDIT:

Gamaliel Rodriguez
Forgotten Centinel, 2022
acrylic, ink and gold leaf on paper
72 x 52 inches
Image Courtesy of the artist and Sperone Westwater, New York, NY