Closing Program: Boomerang by Jairo Sosa
With tarot readings by Rei, food by Chef Tamarindo, and drinks by The Bronx Brewery
+ the unveiling of Flashback, a new limited edition sculpture by Jairo Sosa
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025
Time: 2:00–5:00 pm
Join us in the gallery for a closing program that marks the final week of Boomerang, Jairo Sosa’s exhibition at CUE. Culinary worker, storyteller, and ethnographer Chef Tamarindo (@papitropical) will serve small bites that draw upon the themes of resilience and legacy present in the show. Chef Tamarindo’s dishes fuse Caribbean and coastal Ecuadorian traditions with inventive touches. His food carries stories of migration, resilience, and survival, honoring the people and practices that sustain these cultures.
During the afternoon, tarot reader and experienced astrologer Rei (@morethansunastrology) will offer free readings. Rei’s intuitive practice brings a layer of reflection to the space, inviting guests to consider the cycles of return, memory, and transformation that echo through the show. Her readings extend the themes of the exhibition into personal practice, translating Sosa’s exploration of resilience into moments of individual insight and connection.
Throughout the event, guests will enjoy drinks generously provided by The Bronx Brewery, whose mission is rooted in community, creativity, and inclusivity, reflecting the rich creative scene of The Bronx and inspiring connection across New York City.
At the event, we will unveil Flashback, a new limited edition of thirty ceramic basketballs by Jairo Sosa commissioned by CUE. Cast and glazed in one of nine different metallic glaze combinations, each carries subtle variations in surface finish and tone. These intimate works extend the vocabulary of Sosa’s installation beyond the gallery. The basketball, a recurring motif in the artist’s practice, becomes a compact vessel of resilience, memory, and material alchemy—at once familiar and transformed. Proceeds from the edition support both CUE’s program and the artist’s practice.
This event is free and open to the public. Food will be available for sale, with all proceeds supporting ingredients and labor by Chef Tamarindo.
Flashback, 2025. Glazed stoneware, 4 x 4 x 3.5 inches. Edition of 30 + 4 APs
About the Participants
Chef Tamarindo (@papitropical) is a Brooklyn-born Ecuadorian-Dominican chef and storyteller behind Papitropical. His cooking blends the tropical flavors of the Caribbean and the coast of Ecuador with the vibrancy of New York street food, creating tapas-style dishes that are both rustic and refined. Through pop-ups and residencies across the city, he treats food as a form of cultural memory and community care.
Rei (@morethansunastrology) is an intuitive tarot reader and experienced astrologer. She started her career in finance, dabbled in data science, engaged in research and marketing in blockchain technology, and is now focused on bartending and tarot reading. She enjoys doing event photography, nannying, reading, and practicing French, Chinese, and data science in her free time. Rei does individual sessions with clients and can be contacted directly via DM or email.
The Bronx Brewery (@thebronxbrewery) builds community, using beer brewed in the borough to bring people together while celebrating the rich and diverse creative scene across New York City. The brewery seeks to create a diverse, vibrant culture through beer, art, food and music that inspire, unite, and drive positive change in the world.
About the Artist
Jairo Sosa is a Dominican-American multidisciplinary artist born, raised, and based in New York City. He studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He went on to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts at The Cooper Union for the Advancement for Science and Art in New York (2017), during which he studied abroad at the Universitat de Barcelona Escuela de Bellas Artes in Barcelona, Spain (2016). He also received a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University (2023).
Sosa’s work has been presented in the solo exhibition Be True To The Game at Room 3557, Los Angeles, CA (2024), as well as several group exhibitions, including: Dark Matter at Kates-Ferri Projects, New York, NY (2023), Stand-outs: Selections from the Columbia MFA Program at Fredric Snitzer Gallery. Miami, FL (2023); 11:11 at At Peace Gallery, New York, NY (2020); and Traces at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ (2017), among others.
About the Mentor
Hugh Hayden nominated Jairo Sosa for this opportunity. Hayden’s practice considers the anthropomorphization of the natural world as a visceral lens for exploring the human condition. Raised in Texas and trained as an architect, Hayden transforms familiar objects—often using wood with layered histories such as discarded trunks, rare timbers, or Christmas trees—into composite forms that reflect complex cultural narratives. His work challenges perceptions of identity, social structures, and our relationship to the environment.
Hayden was born in Dallas, Texas in 1983 and lives and works in New York City. He holds an MFA from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University. Recent solo exhibitions include Gulf Stream at the Boston Public Art Triennial's Lot Lab (2024), Huff and a Puff, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum (2023), and Brier Patch at Madison Square Park Conservancy (2022), later shown at the North Carolina Museum of Art (2022) and Dumbarton Oaks Gardens (2022-23). Other solo exhibitions include shows at the Rose Art Museum, Nasher Sculpture Center, Lisson Gallery (NY, LA, London), Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, Blaffer Art Museum, C L E A R I N G (Brussels), and Princeton University Art Museum. Hayden’s work is held in numerous public collections including the Met, LACMA, Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Support
This event is supported by a donation from The Bronx Brewery.
