Making Petroleum Visible: Promise and Ruination with Dr. Julie Skurski

Dr. Julie Skurski will discuss the various forms of extractivism in relation to Ronald Pizzoferrato’s work in the exhibition, Árbol De Aceite. She will also present on her experience curating the work of Venezuelan artists who apply the concept of extractivism to their practice.

This immersive installation renders Pizzoferrato’s perspective on the Venezuelan oil city of Cabimas—the longstanding impact of its history with oil extraction—through the eyes of the locals, grounded in the artist’s image-based field research.

In Pizzoferrato’s own words: “This visual construction seeks to connect how people live, develop, and preserve their identity—where oil and its environmental consequences have become part of the cultural and symbolic landscape. Pollution and ecological decay are woven into daily life, and a Black saint sustains the faith and hope that ‘black gold’ has always sought to destroy.”

Dr. Julie Skurski (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is Distinguished Lecturer in Anthropology at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Her interests lie in the subjects of historical anthropology, race, gender, postcolonialism, popular religion, and Latin American, Caribbean, and Atlantic studies. Her books include States of Violence (University of Michigan Press, 2009), coedited with Fernando Coronil and Anthrohistory: The Question of Discipline, co-edited (2011). She is now at work on Civilizing Barbarism: Nationhood, Masculinity, and Mestizaje in Early Twentieth-Century Venezuela. Related to this project, she is conducting research on the relationship between secular and esoteric formations of national and collective identity, focusing on Freemasonry and popular religiosity in Venezuela and Cuba. She has also been working on the artistic work and political vision of several popular painters in Venezuela.

Ronald Pizzoferrato (B. Caracas, 1988) is an artist and freelance photographer based in Switzerland.

He holds a Master of Arts in Design, specializing in Trends & Identity in the Zurich university of arts. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Bern's Studies in the Arts (SINTA), with a research focus on digitalization, migration, digital humanities, and decolonization.

His artistic research and practice encompass a variety of media, including photography, video, and installation, with a focus documenting the social and cultural realities of his native Venezuela, engaging global issues of identity and violence. His work has garnered international recognition, having exhibited in museums across Switzerland and Venezuela, and featured in numerous distinguished publications.

Jay Seven Inc. is an artist-run studio-gallery space dedicated to producing art installations and publishing initiatives rooted in craft, research and constraints.

Letra Muerta Inc. is a design studio focused on experimental books, research and collection development, specializing in Latin America and the Caribbean.