CURATORIAL

After having worked as an art critic in Greece for five years, I turned to curating in the late 1990s because of a desire to have more creative interaction with the art that I was observing and writing about, and with the public that I was serving. I had just returned to Los Angeles, and my focus turned to Latino, Mexican, and Chicano art. My curatorial experience ranges from working with community art spaces, a commercial gallery, university museum, ethnic-specific museums (Latino, Pacific Asian), large international art museum, small regional museum, cultural center, municipality, and a Mexican restaurant. Recently it expanded to curating and building a corporate art collection.

2020 – Present
Associate Vice President & Chief Curator
AltaMed Art Collection, AltaMed Health Services, CA

2019 – 2020
Senior Curator-at-Large
Interim Senior Curator
La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Los Angeles, CA
Carlos Almaraz: Evolution of Form, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes (March 19, 2020 – January 9, 2022). Live Streaming Walkthrough of exhibition for opening night on Facebook and Instagram.

2013 – 2017
Curatorial Research Team
Aztlán to Magulandia: the Journey of Chicano Artist Gilbert ‘Magu’ Luján
University Art Gallery, University of California Irvine
Getty Pacific Standard Time: Los Angeles/Latin America

2013
Exhibition Consultant
Artifex: New Work by Einar & Jamex de la Torre, Harry Gamboa Jr., Shizu Saldamando, and John Valadez
Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Culver City, CA
Panel Discussion with artists and Cheech Marin (Artifex: Art Effects Beyond Identity)

2005
Exhibition Consultant
Latina: The Spirit of California.
The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts – Sacramento, CA

2002 – 2005
Executive Director / Curator
Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles
As the Executive Director, I also served as director and curator of the Institute’s Art Gallery, responsible for the same transformation as the overall organization from being part of the Mexican government to an independent nonprofit organization. I expanded the exhibition program to include not just Mexican artists, but also Chicano artists and non-Latino artists dealing with Mexican themes, and to introduce more cutting edge programming such as a video art festival and border art.

Exhibiting artists included: Slanguage (Mario Ybarra Jr. and Juan Capistran), Einar and Jamex de la Torre, J. Michael Walker, Delilah Montoya, Roberto Rosique, Cesar Hayashi, Jose Antonio Aguirre, and Mental Menudo sessions with Gilbert “Magu” Lujan.

2002 – 2005
Gallery Associate
Daniel Saxon Gallery – West Hollywood, CA
Curated exhibitions, worked closely with artists, introduced new Chicano and Mexican artists to the gallery, and cultivated press contacts and new collectors.

1999 – 2000
Assistant Curator
USC Fisher Museum, University of Southern California – Los Angeles, CA
Mixed Feelings: Art and Culture in the Postborder Metropolis.

1998 – 1999
Curatorial Research Assistant
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, CA
The Experimental Exercise of Freedom: Lygia Clark, Hélio Oiticica, Gego, Mathias Goeritz and Mira Schendel.
Responsible for writing selected bibliography and exhibition history for catalog, procuring images, written and verbal correspondence to Latin America, completing exhibition checklist & coordinating symposium.

1997 – 1998
Art Consultant, El Portal Restaurant – Pasadena, CA
Conceived and curated a Rotating Artist Series featuring local Mexican and Chicano artists, and responsible for publicity.

1997
Art Consultant, City of Pasadena, CA
Conceived and organized a 2-month long festival with public murals, lectures, a mural tour and documentary exhibition for National Hispanic Latino Heritage Month.

EXHIBITIONS CURATED (selected)

Carlos Almaraz: Evolution of Form. LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Los Angeles, March 19 – October 2020. Virtual walk through with Elsa Flores Almaraz https://lapca.org/exhibition/carlos-almaraz-evolution-of-form-2/

Korea Mexico: 100 Years of Diplomacy. New Media Works by 8 Korean American and Mexican Artists (Co-curated with Kyungmi Shin) at the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, May 20–June 15, 2005. Group exhibition with Susan Choi, Young Chung, Ken Gonzales-Day, Kate Hers, Yongsoon Min, Jorge Nava, Ruben Ortiz Torres, and David Won.

Brainfever: New Drawings, Sculpture and Painting by Gronk. Daniel Saxon Gallery, West Hollywood, July 8–August 10, 2003.

The Mastery Pottery of Juan Quezada: A Collectors’ Retrospective. The Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, July 17–August 31, 2000.

The Labyrinth of Multitude: Contemporary Latin American Artists in Los Angeles. The Luckman Fine Arts Complex, California State University, Los Angeles, September 24–November 6, 1999. Group exhibition with Cecilia Miguez, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Guillermo Bert, Victor Estrada, David Serrano, and Enrique Martinez Celaya. Reviewed by Peter Frank, LA Weekly “Pick of the Week,” Oct. 29, 1999. Catalog published The Labyrinth of Multitude

Spring Fever: A Cultural Celebration with Mexican and Korean Artists in Los Angeles (Co-curated with Jong Soon Min). Korean Cultural Center and the Mexican Cultural Institute, Los Angeles, April 30–June 13, 1999. Group exhibition featuring emerging artists from both cultures living in Los Angeles. Spring Fever

Open House West: Museum Architecture and Changing Civic Identity (Co-Curated). Fisher Gallery, USC, March 10–April 24, 1999. Catalogue published.

Frank Romero: Urban Iconography/ Iconografía Urbana. The Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Los Angeles, May 16–June 22, 1998. Reviewed by William Wilson in the Los Angeles Times on June 10, 1998. Catalog published Frank Romero – Urban Iconography

Achievement of Latinos in the Arts. City of Pasadena Cinco de Mayo Celebration, May 1–30, 1997. First Latino Art Walk in Pasadena with local Latino artists at Pasadena Central Library, student artwork from Latina Teen Project at Rose City Continuing High School & banners by Latino artists at City Hall. Reviewed in the Los Angeles Times, May 4, 1997; San Gabriel Valley Weekly, May 2, 1997; San Gabriel Valley News, April 30, 1997; The Journal News, May 1, 1997.