Seen, the third exhibition at the Office Hours art space, is on view until May 11 in LaCorte Hall B116.
The opening reception is Thursday, April 6, from 5-7 p.m.
Seen is an invitation to consider queerness in all its expressions. The works in the exhibition bear witness to the intricacies and wide spectrum of queer identities and way of embodying queer bodies. From quiet and introspective works, to both explicit and intimate manners of seeing one another, the works and artists in this exhibition celebrate queer community and kinship.
Seen brings together current CSUDH Art and Design students: em aguilar, Mylee Etuale, Gabe Medina and Birdie Rojo, along with recent graduates Vanessa Vilaboa-Patiño, Jynx Prado and Izzy Rimando, and established artists Xandra Ibarra and Amina Cruz. The exhibition features works on paper, sculpture, video, ceramics, painting, photography and textile installation.
Seen is co-curated by Gabe Medina, Birdie Rojo, and Jimena Sarno in collaboration with the CSUDH Queer Culture & Resource Center. Both Gabe Medina and Birdie Rojo are current CSUDH Art and Design students graduating in May 2023.
Born and based in South Central, Los Angeles, Gabe Medina is a Mexican American multi-disciplinary artist and organizer. Much of his work challenges racist and classist narratives about lower income communities. Informed by his own family history and his relationship to his home in South Central, Medina has been reconstructing symbols of local plant life and wrought iron fence motifs, prominent symbols in his familiar neighborhood. He utilizes a variety of media including ceramics, photo transfers, and paintings to uplift and deepen his evolving connection to South Central.
Birdie Rojo is a queer, Mexican American, interdisciplinary artist and organizer from Compton, California. Their work celebrates Mexican culture while addressing its inherent machismo culture, homophobia and the erasure of indigenous people. They draw inspiration from folklore and their childhood memories to recreate those environments through installation, sound ceramics and painting.
As part of the opening reception, Professor Kellan King’s 3D Design class will feature a series of illuminated sculptures in the outdoor area that will remain onsite until April 11.
Office Hours is an independent artist-run space housed within the Department of Art and Design at California State University Dominguez Hills. The space was founded by CSUDH Assistant Professor Jimena Sarno to bring together works by current and past CSUDH students with the arts community in greater Los Angeles and beyond. Office Hours’ last exhibition, Insistent, was written about by CSUDH Lecturer of Labor Studies Matthew McGarvey. Read his piece on the Office Hours website.
