Nuestra Silla, which translates from Spanish to “Our Chair,” is conceptual artist Lucia Hierro’s first public art sculpture. Hierro is part of a lineage of Pop artists including Claes Oldenburg (Swedish-American, 1922-2008) and Tom Wesselmann (American, 1931-2004) who critically engage with popular culture and mass production. Born in New York City, specifically the area of Little Dominican Republic in Washington Heights and Inwood, Hierro has witnessed the neighborhoods she grew up around change through gentrification. Much of her work focuses on archiving bodega culture, as she, in her own words “confronts twenty-first century capitalism through an intersectional lens.”
A major motif of Pop art is the enlargement of everyday objects, making the banal look monumental. Hierro continues this tradition, but infuses it with her own personal history. Nuestra Silla depicts a Monobloc chair, the ubiquitous, one-piece white plastic lawn chair that started to be mass produced in 1970. Although this chair is recognizable globally, Hierro uses it to reference the lively bodega culture of her youth; it symbolizes rest and social connection. She painted the chair red to give it a sense of festivity or celebration.
About the Artist
Lucia Hierro (b. 1987) is a Dominican American conceptual artist born and raised in New York City, Washington Heights/Inwood, and currently based in the South Bronx. Lucia’s practice, which includes sculpture, digital media and installation, confronts twenty-first century capitalism through an intersectional lens. She received a BFA from SUNY Purchase (2010) and an MFA from Yale School of Art (2013).
Hierro’s work has been exhibited at venues including the Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery (Los Angeles), Elizabeth Dee Gallery (New York), Primary Projects (Miami), Sean Horton Presents (Dallas), Fabienne Levy Gallery (Lausanne, Switzerland), Casa Quien in the Dominican Republic and Charlie James Gallery. Her works reside in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum New York, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland, El Museo del Barrio in New York City, the Perez Art Museum Miami, the JP Morgan & Chase Collection, among others. Lucia is subject of a solo exhibition titled “Moving Day” at Marc Straus Gallery (May 8th-June) and Guggenheim Pop: 1960 to Now, featuring Pop art from the collection. She is currently represented by Fabienne Levy Gallery in Lausanne, Switzerland and Marc Straus Gallery in New York.
The MFA is pleased to announce that the Collectors Circle has sponsored the long-term loan of Lucia Hierro's outdoor sculpture Nuestra Silla.
Sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts
Featured image: Lucia Hierro (Dominican American, b. 1987), Nuestra Silla, 2026, painted steel. Courtesy of the artist.