Amalia Mesa-Bains’ first retrospective exhibition at Berkeley Art Museum

the exhibition "Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory," Mesa-Bains' first retrospective exhibition. The show reunites 60 works offering a panoramic view of the artist's oeuvre and gathers a lifetime effort to introduce reflections on Chicano identity in the field of contemporary American art. Therefore, Mesa-Bains has turned her work into a space for reflection on being Latino, Chicano, and American in contexts of migration and colonialism. The exhibition was curated by Maria Esther Fernández and Dr. Laura E. Pérez in collaboration with the Latinx Research Center (LRC) at UC Berkeley.
In a review of the group exhibition "Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art" (2013) published in ArtNexus, Terri Weisman writes about Mesa-Bains’ oeuvre "An Ofrenda for Dolores del Río" : "Honoring one of the first Mexican superstars in Hollywood, ‘An Ofrenda for Dolores del Rio’ transforms the ceremonial aesthetic of home altars into a secular installation and a feminist declaration." In Amalia Mesa-Bains' artistic production converges cultural diversity, a spirituality informed by a blend of Mexican Catholicism and non-Western ancestral worldviews, and an intersectional feminism. Mesa-Bains has been studied as one of the most prominent representatives of Chicanx feminist art of her generation.
"Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory" will be on view until July 23, 2023, at BAMPFA, 2155 Center Street, between Oxford Street and Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley.
Link to Terri Weisman's article "Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art" (ArtNexus #92):https://www.artnexus.com/en/magazines/article-magazine-artnexus/5d6415e790cc21cf7c0a3d94/92/our-america-the-latino-presence-in-american-art