COSMIC MATRIARCHS: NEW TANA EXHIBIT

We are thrilled to share the opening of Cosmic Matriarchs, a new exhibition featuring the work of Dalila Paola Mendez, Lilia “Liliflor” Ramirez, and Suzy Hernandez. The featured work honors the earth, sacred elements, life-givers, and generations of birthing, healing, and love that align with ancestral remembering. This exhibition highlights the power of matriarchal lineages and femme roots amidst present-day realities that are destructive to our communities—from elders to youth, the earth, and generations to come.   Join us Friday, March 15, 5-7pm for an evening of thought provoking paintings and prints, refreshments, and live DJ!

 

EXHIBITION DATES: March 15 – May 1, 2019

In these images the viewer finds representations of the cycles of life and death, rebirth, regeneration, queer love, and an honoring of the earth as a life-giver of sacred resources, i.e. water, air, land, and fire, that are often disrespected, commodified, and currently out of balance due to climate injustice. The spirit-centered visuals these artists offer return the viewer to a humbleness and reverence for all that is sacred, especially life, breath, and our madre cosmica, as a pathway for healing and transformation.

Dalila Paola Mendez

Dalila Paola Mendez is an Indigenous Guatemalan/Salvadoran queer artist born and raised in Los Angeles. She was raised in an Armenian/Arab/Guatemalan/ Salvadoran household.   She credits Barnsdall Art Park classes for igniting her love for both photography and painting.

​She creates vibrant works that combine contemporary images with sacred references to indigenous iconography, knowledge, and folklore. Combining the new with the ancient, she explores ancestry as a way to reinterpret and navigate issues confronting our modern world. Through painting, printmaking, photography, and film her art visually narrates stories of resilience of cultures, elders, lgbtq, women, and the environment.

Lilia Ramirez

Lilia Ramirez p.k.a Liliflor is a cultural art educator championing youth in the arts, using art as a tool for healing and transformation. Since 1994 Lilia has been at the forefront of the Los Angeles youth movement; as co-founder of the Peace and Justice Center (PJC) in 1995, an innovative youth run center in Los Angeles. A decade later she received her B.A from UCLA’s World Arts and Cultural Studies. Lilia co-founded First Street Studios, soon after she served as Director of Annual Exhibitions for Mujeres de Maiz (International Women of Color Artist Collective & Zine), and curator at The Jean Deleage Gallery. Her current and past Artist Residencies include: LA Works, L.A.’s Best A.S.A.P, Casa 0101, L.A. Commons, City of Los Angeles Summer Night Lights, Arts 4 City Youth – Art As Resistance, African American Museum, Casa Coyo, Watts Labor Community Action Center, Theatre of Hearts, and Highways Art Gallery and ArtworxLa.

Suzy Hernández

Xicana artist Suzy Hernández, a radical tenderness bruja passing as a multidisciplinary artist viviendo en Davis CA, nacida en Chicanolandia (Los Angeles) Califas. Hernández has created works in performance art, fashion, pen and ink drawing, experimental audio y video, photography, and installation art for about two decades. A two-spirit being constantly trying to remember and return to where we originated from. No es de aqui ni de alla, pero de las estrellas. Her work concentrates on breaking down borders within ourselves to further decolonized the mind, body y espíritu. Invoking spirit personas como La Biker Curandera, Post-Apocoliptic Bruja, y La Llorona in her performances para ayudar a sanar las heridas. Creating images of these spirit personas in her two dimensional art work. Always drawing attention to the Xicano Indio raíces.

Since the late 90’s Hernández has had the privilege to show work alongside Karen Finley, Celia Herrera Rodriguez, Leigh Salgado, y Guillermo Gómez-Peña of La Pocha Nostra. Hernández attended California College of the Arts & Crafts en Oakland CA, where she studied printmaking and fiber-sculpture.

Suzy Hernández  is represented by Mat Gleason of Coagula Curatorial en Los Ángeles.

Graduation Exhibition: Semillas Nuevas | New Seeds

Exhibit Dates:

Opening: Friday, June 8, 2018   5-7pm

Ends: Friday, August 31st, 2018

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New Seeds | Semillas Nuevas is an exhibition of recent posters created by Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer interns. Their work reflects a broad range of individual and collective concerns that include struggle, resistance, empowerment, and community growth.

Intern Statements:

Our exhibition reflects the time that we the interns have spent at TANA, and how this experience has influenced our individual work. The growth that we have all gone through during this past school year can mostly be attributed to the relationship we have with the community members that attend workshop and interact with us. Within the workshop it is our responsibilities as interns to interact with the community members and to aid in their journey of creating political posters. Sometimes this includes holding discussions of events that plant the seed of resistance in our participants that we hope blooms into a poster aimed at addressing a troublesome subject in our society and/or community.

Estela Tejada : 2nd year double major in International Relations and American Studies

The work that I am showcasing deals with themes of empowerment. My inspiration stems from the people who have helped nurture my identity and power as an individual. All of my prints are an homage to those who have helped me and a hope that I can impart my knowledge to others.

 

Jose Quintero : 1st year transfer with a double major in Studio Art & Chicanx Studies

As an intern I have been able to express my personal views on the struggle and resistance of students, educators and community members. Being at the shop is a constant reminder that the world is bigger than anyone’s capitalist agenda. The making of art has never been so moving.

Aurelia Montoya : Graduating with a BS in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Chicanx Studies

The prints I have created during my time as an intern at the shop center community growth and empowerment. I try to pull inspiration from my experiences and from events that affect me and those around me. I think centering community is important and teaching ourselves and others that creating art is a powerful contribution to the community.

Spring Session Update!

With the sun bright and warming us up, we welcome the sunshine into our studio when we can bear the heat! This session has brought new students in with a bunch of beautiful ideas.

This Spring, Yolo County Office of Education asked TANA to participate at the first ever Youth Empowerment Summit. This event is to teach and help youth understand why civic engagement is important and how they are a strong voting block. Two of our high school participants created a logo to be up for vote to be the official logo for next years event. Long time participant, Miguel Alonso, was the winner!

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We also invite ya’ll to come join us at the end of this quarter for our Intern Exhibition June 8th, so that we may also support our up and coming young artists! Stay tuned for more details about this event.

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Spring Session 2018!

Hello all! It has been awhile since we have given you an update on here!

 

We start studio for Spring Session today, Thursday April 19th, from 3-6 pm! We will also be open Saturday from 11 am – 4 pm this week. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Drucella Miranda at damiranda@ucdavis.edu.

 

There is exciting news about what has occurred over spring break though! TANA currently has a show up in Santa Cruz, CA at the Resource Center for Nonviolence. Appropriately titled Intersections, the show combines work from our studio with the work created in 1401, which is the silk-screening studio at UC Davis, that covers a diverse set of identities and issues people may face due to the intersections of their varying aspects of their lives. If you find yourself in Santa Cruz, feel free to stop by and check out the work Mondays-Thursdays from Noon – 4 pm! The show will be up until May 22nd.

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La Huella Magistral: Homage to Master Printmakers

Friday, March 9th, was TANA’s opening reception for La Huella Magistral: Homage to Master Printmakers. This is the theme for the newest portfolio for Consejo Gráfico, which is a network of print studios around the nation continuing the legacies of Latinx printmaking. TANA co-founder Malaquias Montoya and Artist-in-Residence Jaime Montiel created prints to honor Rini Templeton. It was a great turn out with good company, good food, good music, and great art! You can come by until the last week of May to check out the exhibit!

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Please contact Drucella Miranda at damiranda@ucdavis.edu if you would like to come during the month of March, as we will be preparing for Spring Session.

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