Griselda Rosas is showing her work at Lux Art Institute in Cardiff by the Sea until March 14th so there are only a few more days to catch this show. This is the largest quanity of this artist's work that I have seen at one time and that is because all this art was commissioned for this show. Bravo Lux and their new director Andrew Utt. Rosas gave a very charming talk about her work which gave me much greater insights not only to her process but to the layered meaning of this art. Like most students who went back and forth across the border for some years, she has the weight of that border crossing upon her. She has also extensively researched colonial connection to Spain through customs, art and fashion. For example, she presented a paper on the development of the ruffed collar from Queen Elizabeth 1 and Bloody Queen Ann in England to Spain and then to Mexico.
Griselda Rosas giving her presentation at the Lux Art Institute
That is where the complication starts to form. A lover of everything beautiful, a tactile person who loves color and stitchery has to combine this with the history of her people. This history is not just the colonization of her home country but runs right up to the drug overlords and their liking for ostrich skin boots and silk Armani shirts. You have to look closely to see parts of all these subjects merging in the art. Sometimes images are enhanced sometimes they are covered. The resulting art is actually subtle but with the flare of hanging fringes luring you in to look closely. You can see more of Griselda Rosas's work in the upcoming San Diego Art Prize 2020atAthenaeum Music & Arts Librarywith other finalistsAlanna Airitam, Kaori Fukuyama, andMelissa Walterfrom May 9 to July 3. Rosas currently also has work currently at:
Detail of above: Notice the Armani swatch of material found by Rosas at a garage sale and the faux ostrich skin used as a background for some of these works.
Edges Frayed atCannon Art Galleryin Carlsbadwith Bhavna Mehta, Irma Sophia Poeter and Michelle Montjoy with panel discussions and artists workshops through May 24th.
An interesting phenomena is occurring in more than one gallery in San Diego. We are seeing more and more women's work on display. This could be a result of so many women directors of museums, and so many new women curators. It could be all the publicity given to women rights in this Year of the Women or it could be just the sheer quality of the work that women throughout the county are producing. San Diego
Art Prize 2020at Athenaeum
Music & Arts Libraryhas anopening onFriday, May 8 from 6:30 to 8:30 and showing until Sat,
July 3, 2020 has only women finalist: Alanna Airitam , Kaori Fukuyama, Griselda Rosas, and Melissa Walter. And this exhibition has three star artists (all past participants of the SD Art Prize).
What I see when I visit the Edges Frayed exhibition and also when working with the artists from the SD Art Prize is what I see whenever women come together. They want to share the space and they want a show where the sum of the parts makes a greater whole. They want to work together, talk together and then they want the art works to speak to each other.
In the central display area that is exactly what we see. The arts by these three women is intermingling. It is easy to recognize which work is made by which artist, but there are no labels to put barriers between the works. So instead of coming away thinking that these artist were unraveling, the frayed edges are not actually the start of the end. Instead you see how this is metaphorical entrance for the works to interact. The borders are breaking down.
All three artist offered me surprises. I have never seen the male portraits of Irma Sofia Poeter with the embroidery scabs decorating their faces. Although I have always seen the words as part of the cut paper work of Bhavna Mehta, I had never noticed the stitched poetry. This was describes to me by one viewer as "whisperings into your ear." And the biggest surprise was these delicate works by Michelle Montjoy. I was used to the strong thick yarn hanging columns, but I got little objects sewn between layers of semi-transparent material. Some of these were almost like seeing miniature people under the sheets of a bed.
I would love to hear what you think is the conversation being held between all these works so go, see the show, and send me an email, text or instagram. Patricia@sdvisualarts.net 760.492.8244 pfrischer
