Raúl de Nieves's first solo institutional show in New York City, titled "In Light of Innocence," has opened at Pioneer Works. The exhibition transforms the Main Hall into an immersive, cathedral-like environment featuring 50 faux stained glass panels, a monumental lightbox mural, and works that blend Catholic, Mexican folkloric, and tarot symbolism. The artist uses humble materials like paper, wood, glue, tape, and colored acetate to create kaleidoscopic, light-responsive installations that shift throughout the day.
The exhibition matters because it marks a significant milestone for de Nieves, a multimedia artist whose work challenges historical and religious narratives of violence and exclusion by reimagining places of worship as sites of transformation. By incorporating tarot's egalitarian symbolism and poetic text fragments, de Nieves offers a framework for personal reflection and collective imagination that resists rigid meaning. The show also highlights Pioneer Works's role in presenting ambitious, site-specific installations by contemporary artists.