CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

Art Gallery

CSUDH University Art Gallery Presents “Personal, Small, Medium, Large, Family” by Mario Ybarra, Jr.

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Installation view of “Personal, Small, Medium, Large, Family”
Installation view, “Personal, Small, Medium, Large, Family”

The University Art Gallery at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) proudly presents “Personal, Small, Medium, Large, Family,” an installation by Mario Ybarra, Jr. exploring mass incarceration. The exhibition will be on view September 30 through December 8, 2023; Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m.

The public is invited to an opening reception for “Personal, Small, Medium, Large, Family” on Saturday, September 30, from 3 to 6 p.m.

Using sculptural installation, Ybarra, Jr. explores the impact of mass incarceration on families and communities and the artist’s personal experience of watching a friend enter the prison system as a teenager. Using the metaphor of the family pizza establishment and its available pie sizes, the artist asks questions about the impact of incarceration on the individual and the circles of their communities. He does so using interview footage with a childhood friend who was incarcerated for thirty-two years. Ybarra uses scale images in the installation of Red West Pizzeria, the local Wilmington pizza restaurant that he and his friend ate at as children in the 1970s and 80s.

The University Art Gallery on the CSUDH campus, 1000 E. Victoria Street in Carson, is free and open to the public Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. Visit csudh.edu/visit-us for directions and a printable campus map. Daily permits in campus lots are $10 and sold at yellow kiosks in the lots.

About the Artist:

Mario Ybarra, Jr. has developed a prolific artistic practice that emanates from his upbringing, producing contemporary art that is filtered through his Mexican-American experience. Ybarra grew up in the greater Los Angeles-area and is one of a new generation of artists of Mexican descent that does not reject their American identity but embraces both trajectories in their background equally. Ybarra’s work operates as examinations of excluded social norms, often including complete environments, histories, and narratives.

Mario Ybarra Jr. was born in Los Angeles in 1973 and lives in Wilmington, California. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Otis College of Art and Design in 1999 and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine in 2001. One-person exhibitions of his work have been presented at the Boone Family Art Gallery at the Center for Arts, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA (2015); Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA (2013); Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA (2012). His work has been included in thematic exhibitions such as L.A. Exuberance: New Gifts by Artists, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (2016); Tastemakers & Earthshakers: Notes from Los Angeles Youth Culture, 1943-2016, Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park, CA (2016). Made in L.A. 2012, organized by the Hammer Museum in collaboration with LAXART, Los Angeles, CA (2012); Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (2008); The World as a Stage, Tate Modern, London, UK (2007); and the California Biennial, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA (2006).

About the University Art Gallery

The CSUDH University Art Gallery serves the campus and broader community as a laboratory for contemporary art and design practices, presenting exhibitions and programming. The University Art Gallery is deeply committed to building a creative and innovative art and design culture that celebrates artists and engages audiences. For more information, visit gallery.csudh.edu.

In Conversation with Lauren Halsey

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Artist Lauren Halsey talks with students and faculty at the University Art Gallery at LaCorte Hall.
Artist Lauren Halsey talks with students and faculty at the University Art Gallery at LaCorte Hall.

Students from CSUDH’s art and design department welcomed celebrated artist Lauren Halsey to campus this week for a wide-ranging discussion about her approach to art, her creative process, and the importance of community in an event co-hosted by the University Art Gallery and the PRAXIS Community Engagement Program.

Halsey’s work has been the subject of a solo exhibition at the gallery since March. Sitting among the signage, collages, and sculpture that make up the exhibition, the artist characterized her work as “love letters” or “moments of meaning” gathered over many years.

As a student at El Camino College, she traveled through the city by bus every day. “I was remapping my neighborhood and restyling what I imagined the exterior of the neighborhood could look like or should look like,” Halsey says.

Halsey’s sculpted pieces and collages include references to places both obscure and profoundly meaningful to those familiar with her creative geography. “These are spaces I’ve been in or have had access to, like HP Ice Cream on 105th and San Pedro. My grandma lived on 106th. I grew up going to this spot, and I wanted to archive it because it’s beautiful as a vessel or a space for joy.”

In a slideshow presentation that served both as a retrospective and an indicator of future projects for the artist, Halsey documented her love of names and indexing. She included a photograph of drawings she had made to record the names of area churches.

“I grew up in the Missionary Baptist Church off Broadway and 107th. Just noticing the promise and poetry of the names of these churches in an area that might be antithetical to that promise was always so beautiful to me,” Halsey says.

Gallery Director Aandrea Stang says the talk by Halsey was part of a broader effort “to provide a range of artistic practices by Los Angeles-area artists who have a relationship with our student population and South Los Angeles.”

It gives CSUDH art and design students “a valuable art experience by an artist with whom they can relate,” Stang says.

Jupiter Palayo, 22, is a studio art major from Long Beach with an interest in photography and ceramics. She says the intentionality of Halsey’s work and the ability to capture meaningful moments within a community that are easily overlooked or erased are what resonated most with her.

“That’s what I want to do with my photography–capturing moments in space, especially in communities that are disappearing,” Palayo says.

Halsey received the Seattle Art Museum’s 2021 Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence prize and has had solo exhibitions in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Paris. Her works are also featured in collections at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio.

Halsey, whose exhibition at the University Art Gallery closes on December 10, is also in the process of creating a major public monument that she calls her “dream project.” It’s a culmination of her earliest inclinations as an artist in high school. 

The specifics of the design have not been finalized, Halsey says, but the installation will first be displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York before relocating to South Central Los Angeles.

“This will be the first project in my life where the work will return back to the context it emanates from,” Halsey says. “It will go to the Met from April to October next year, but it will be in my neighborhood in South Central for three years as its own space.”

Retrospective Exhibition Highlights Career of CSUDH Art Professor Emerita

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CSUDH Emerita Professor of Art Gilah Yelin Hirsch.
CSUDH Emerita Professor of Art Gilah Yelin Hirsch.

CSUDH Professor Emerita of Art Gilah Yelin Hirsch has been honored with a retrospective exhibit at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA) in Santa Ana. Titled “The Archeology of Metaphor, the exhibit runs through Oct. 29 and features work from throughout her lengthy and varied career, from her earliest 1968 paintings to the present.

Hirsch, who joined the art department faculty in 1973 and taught at CSUDH for almost 50 years, is considered one of the first feminist artists. She was a founding member and wrote the manifesto for the Los Angeles Council of Women Artists, one of the first women’s art organizations. The statement protested the underrepresentation of women in Southern California museums and collections, and the group is considered a trailblazer in the realm of feminist art.

Born in Montreal, Canada, Hirsch attended the University of California, Berkeley during the mid-1960s. “I actually became an artist by accident,” Hirsch recalls. “When I was going to Berkeley, I wanted to be a writer and psychologist.” She took an art class “on a lark,” and found that she had a natural talent and inclination for it.

When her then-husband was accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles, she moved to Southern California. On a whim, Hirsch submitted 10 of her paintings to the university’s Master of Fine Arts program. “I got in,” she says, “and immediately began making paintings that started to be shown nationally and internationally.”

After obtaining her MFA in pictorial arts from UCLA in 1970, Hirsch taught art at Santa Monica College and American Jewish University before landing the job at CSUDH. At a time when women were not well-represented in art faculties, “I landed the one and only tenured painting professor job in town,” she says.

“For me, teaching at Dominguez all those years was the greatest boon in my life,” says Hirsch. “Every time I entered a studio or a classroom, people were speaking so many different languages and the varieties of ethnicities was so clear and apparent, it was enriching my life every minute.”

Hirsch’s work explores and makes connections between art, science, and spirituality. Much of her work revolves around her theory of cosmography, which argues for the natural and neurological origins of human alphabets. She has presented her work and theories at many conferences around the world since first unveiling it at a 1982 conference on consciousness sponsored by the Menninger Foundation, one of the leading organizations in psychiatric research and methodology.

She has long been one of the leaders of the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, and has been recognized officially by the group for her “innovative blending of science and art revealing existing relationships between forms in nature, forms in human physiology, and the forms that are present in all alphabets.”

In 1985, Hirsch received a senior artist grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has been shown in countless galleries, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as museums and galleries in Russia, Greece, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Kenya, Israel, and other countries. Her personal archives are housed in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art in Washington, D.C.

Hirsch was named chair of CSUDH’s art department in 2001. Despite opportunities to move to larger, better-known schools, Hirsch elected to remain at Dominguez Hills throughout her career. “Ivy League schools would have welcomed me, but I felt they didn’t really need me,” explains Hirsch. “And I didn’t really need them. Dominguez was a unique experience in this country and most likely in the world. I learned so much from my students.”

Although she retired two years ago, Hirsch points out, “I still call it ”˜our’ school. It’s always going to be my school or our school. Working there is a unique gift to anyone who has an open mind and who’s willing to learn from the students. I treasured my experience at CSUDH.”

Hirsch’s unique, abstract style has changed and developed over time, an evolution that the OCCCA exhibit traces from the very beginning of her career. The exhibition also includes her work in other mediums, including photography and film.

Prestigious art publisher Skira has released a book to accompany the exhibit, also titled Archeology of Metaphor. “I’m tremendously pleased that they are publishing this book about my work and my life,” she says. “I’m thrilled with the recognition, and very grateful to (curator and author) Donna Stein, who put together the exhibit and put the book out into the world. It’s quite an honor.”

Hirsch gives some of the credit for her success to a brief correspondence she had with Albert Einstein when she was just 10 years old. Seeing all the conflict in the world, Hirsch wrote to Einstein and asked how he could reconcile being the world’s greatest scientist with believing in the God of the Old Testament.

“Within two weeks, I received a letter back from him,” recalls Hirsch. “The main line of that letter said, ”˜Always form your opinions according to your own judgment.’ This sentence really guided my life and continues to do so. It’s the main thing that I hope to pass on to my students, to others in my life and the world. If you have an idea that you believe in, go for it.”

“Archeology of Metaphor: The Art of Gilah Yelin Hirsch, 1968-2022” is currently on display at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA) in Santa Ana. The exhibit runs through Oct. 29. Hirsch will be conducting a guided walkthrough of the exhibit on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m.

Mixed-Media Visual Artist Toni Scott ”˜Live Paints’ to the Music of the CSUDH Orchestra

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Mixed-media artist visual Toni Scott(Carson, CA.) To examine the symbiotic relationship between visual arts and music, renowned mixed-media artist Toni Scott will complete a “live painting” with accompaniment by the CSUDH Orchestra during the spring 2021 Presidential Distinguished Lecture Series on Wednesday, March 24, from 3 to 4 p.m. The virtual event is free and open to the public.

“The Intersection of Art and Music,” featuring mixed-media visual artist Toni Scott, takes place Wednesday, March 24, from 3 to 4 p.m. To register, visit https://csudh.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2fkFR_-zSg6pMCFNT61CCA

Titled “The Intersection of Art and Music,” and hosted by California State University, Dominguez Hills President Thomas A. Parham, the event will feature the CSUDH Orchestra, led by CSUDH and Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles Conductor Charles Dickerson, performing “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.”

Parham will lead a discussion with Scott and Dickerson to delve into the concept of “live painting” and the unique feelings and creative flow that emerge while the visual artist paints with an orchestral muse. Much of the discussion will be driven by questions from CSUDH students.

President Parham established the Presidential Distinguished Lecture Series to engage the campus and surrounding community in thought-provoking discussions on some of society’s most pressing issues. Each year, the series will bring leading scholars, artists, and leaders to share their thoughts and experiences with the Toro community.

About Toni Scott

Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Toni Scott’s installations, exhibitions, and individual works largely explore her African American, Native American, and European heritage. Her acclaimed installation “Bloodlines” was a visual exploration of American slavery, and “The Circle and Cycle of Life,” which was the first solo exhibition for an international artist at the Changzhou Museum in Chinaa, focused on Indigenous culture, feminism, and technological advancements of the 20th century.

In October 2020, CSUDH announced a strategic partnership with Scott, which will include developing innovative academic, artistic, and co-curricular endeavors that engage the CSUDH community in the creation of new works and in the critical examination of racial and cultural themes that resonate with the student body and the nation-at-large.

About Charles Dickerson

Charles (Chuck) Dickerson is the executive director and Conductor of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. Over his 40 plus years of conducting, he has directed performances of many of the greatest orchestral and choral works throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Dickerson has prepared choruses for concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestras including the Phil’s 2012 performance of the Mahler Eighth Symphony and performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Maestro Gustavo Dudamel conducting.

University Art Gallery and PRAXIS Awarded $45,000 for Artist Patrick Martinez Residency

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Los Angeles Artist Patrick Martinez will exhibit in CSUDH's University Art Gallery during residency in the PRAXIS program.
Los Angeles Artist Patrick Martinez will exhibit in the University Art Gallery during his residency in CSUDH’s PRAXIS program. Photo of Martinez by Ricky Chavez

California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) University Art Gallery and PRAXIS art engagement program have received two grants totaling $45,000 to support the residency of Los Angeles-based artist Patrick Martinez and an exhibition of his work.

The National Endowment for the Arts granted PRAXIS $30,000 from its first round of national awards in 2021 of more than $27.5 million for projects that span 14 artistic disciplines. The grant was awarded in the “Visual Arts” category.

The Pasadena Art Alliance (PAA) has also contributed to the Martinez residency and exhibition in a significant way with an additional $15,000 grant. The PAA awards projects created by established as well as unconventional institutions that meet its rigorous process and standards. This is the fifth year in a row that PRAXIS has received funding from the alliance.

The grants were received by Devon Tsuno, assistant professor of Art and Design and creator and co-director of PRAXIS, and Aandrea Stang, director of the University Art Gallery/assistant professor of Art and Design and co-director of PRAXIS.

“We are grateful to both the Pasadena Art Alliance and our peer panelists at the National Endowment for the Arts for their ongoing recognition of our programs,” said Stang. “We are looking forward to Patrick engaging with our students through the PRAXIS residency and to introduce his work to the larger DH community through his exhibition.”

Of Filipino, Mexican, and Native American descent, Martinez grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Martinez, whose renowned Pee Chee series highlights the threats posed to people of color by law enforcement, creates art with a strong social justice message. His mixed media landscape paintings are abstractions composed of Los Angeles surface content that address place and socio-economic position, and expose sites of personal, civic and cultural loss.

His neon sign works are fabricated to mirror street level commercial signage, but are remixed to present words and phrases drawn from literary and oratorical sources. While his acrylic on panel cake paintings memorialize leaders, activists, and thinkers.

“I’m incredibly excited to share what informs my art practice with the students of CSUDH, but more importantly I want to activate these students to establish their own systems of art making,” said Martinez.

Martinez’s artist residency was originally planned for summer 2021 but will be rescheduled to when regular operations and in-person instruction returns to CSUDH.