It's Right To Rebel
Fundraiser for immigrant families
Cafe 9
New Haven
June 18, 2028
By Alina Rose Chen
A golden heart, holding ground amongst chaos: the startling center of Andrés Madariaga’s Huellas—“footprints” — shimmered against a backdrop of fragmented figures, blown-out footsteps, and distorted figures that appeared to be straining at the confines of the canvas.
Rendered in the flag colors of Madariaga’s native Colombia and incorporating the additional black and green of Palestine, the painting’s fluid, surrealist style captured a sense of displacement and the panic of assimilation in a world where borders are more than just lines on a map.
Huellas was one of several pieces on view at Wednesday night’s “It’s Right to Rebel” fundraiser at Café Nine, a celebration of visual art and live music that raised over $1,000 for families impacted by deportation. The event featured performances by Softwalls, Sickpay, and Missed Cues, alongside work by Madariaga, Drew Keefer, Eduardo Alvarez, Alexandra Shaheen, Brian Timko, and Alex Schwindt.
For Madariaga, a tattoo artist and cat rescue worker currently living in Fair Haven, the night was personal. Madariaga immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia as a teenager. His work grapples with the complexities of belonging and the push-pull of navigating dual identities. His second piece on display, Not from here or there, incorporated Goya spice labels and McDonald’s iconography. “That one is an older piece, done in a different style,” he said, “but it still has to do with being in two places at the same time.”
The fundraiser was organized by Unidad Latina en Accion (ULA) member Drew Keefer, who saw an opportunity to unite New Haven’s art scene around a shared cause.
“Solidarity is my life blood,” he said. “It’s been an honor to work with [ULA] this past year.”
Wednesday’s event was the second installment in a series that began April 19 at Volume II. Keefer plans to continue hosting similar events throughout the city.
Softwalls, the solo project of Allie Tracz, opened the night with a set of shimmering synth textures and haunting vocals, performing “Blip,” “Shadowdance,” and “Drool.” A longtime friend and former roommate of Keefe, Tracz also played the first show in the series. “This cause is so important — we’re all so busy in our lives, so it’s good to come together,” she said. The goal, simply put: “To get ICE [federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement] the fuck out of here.”
Keefer’s own work, like many of the night’s pieces, drew from historical resistance movements as a framework for the present moment.
“There is no revolution without cultural revolution,” he said. “You are either on the side of history that stands with the youth, or you are against it.”
His piece, Ton Ton Macoute (pictured below) — created in collaboration with a photographer friend who critiques the “pornification of image culture” — juxtaposed images of a young Stalin with phrases like “THESTORM WHICH BRINGS HARM ALSO MAKES FERTILE” and “We’ve Been Searching Our Whole Lives For A Malady Greater Than Man’s Fear Of His Fellows.”
As the night came to a close, Huellas and the other works remained on the walls, a lasting reminder of the community and activism that brought the evening together. The exhibition will be on view through the end of July.
