For this gallery quinceanara, Ever Velasquez has curated a stellar roster of over forty women and non-binary artists for an invigorating group outing that lands in the body. The star of the show is Tanya Aguiñiga curb wall ladder, 2023, a touching thirty-foot-long print that flanks the full height of the space’s tallest wall and stretches along the floor towards the entrance like a ghostly walkway. Made by transferring rust from a metal ladder found near the border wall in Southern California onto a banner-like strip of cotton, the piece alludes to the exponential increase in migrant deaths due to attempts to scale it (the barricade was extended skyward nearly fifteen feet under President Trump). Next to the artwork is Verónica Gaona’s glossy black panel from 2020, made from tinted windshield glass. It sits low to the ground like a tombstone and bears an appropriate epitaph, which is also the title of the sculpture: “Para aquellos que no regresan en vida, siempre está la muerte(For those who do not return in life, there is always death).
In the back room is a selection of works that examine the politics surrounding women’s bodies via reproductive rights, pregnancy and menstruation. The soothing beauty of Jessica Taylor Bellamy’s painting Playa Larga (Coquina Combination Pill Pack)2023, which overlays the contraceptive packaging calendar sticker on a rendering of a shimmering crimson estuary, provides a nice contrast to the obscene humor of Sophie Stark’s abject Cock Pocket Ever Virgin Combo Pack2023, a silicone sex toy in the shape of Hot Pockets accompanied by a satirical advertisement broadcast nearby.
On the ground floor, the exhibition brings together works by some of the great ladies of the art world, such as Graciela Iturbide and Patssi Valdez, with offerings from an eclectic group of young talents, including Evelyn Quijas Godínez, whose Ahi viene el agua (Here Comes the Rain), 2023, features a pastel pink window grille framing a slightly glowing lightbox view of the artist’s parents’ hometown in Jalisco, Mexico. Her sequined window frame adornment Dragon Ball Z the stickers suggest the perfect impurity of cultural experience and millennial nostalgia. Overall, this cross-generational group of artists engages and explores identity and social politics through subtle material transformations, wry humor, and everyday materials with a quiet sense of depth.
