Exhibitions, Press Release

January 26, 2021

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

MEDIA CONTACT: Virginia McInnis | [email protected] | 480-874-4663

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art Invites Arizona-Based Artists to Curate Collection Exhibition

An image of Yo #1, 2006  by Luis Gonzalez Palma
Luis Gonzalez Palma , “Yo #1,”  2006. Ambrotype, engraved glass, velvet in wood frame, 10 x 20 inches.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) will invite the Arizona-based artists M. Jenea Sanchez and Gabriela Muñoz to participate in a critical engagement with the SMoCA Collection, a first in the Museum’s history. “Division of Labor: Women Shifting a Transnational Gaze” is on view Feb. 20 – Aug. 22, 2021.

“Building on our recent exhibition of women artists — ‘Unapologetic: All Women, All Year’ — ‘Division of Labor’ continues a critical look at the Museum’s collection by introducing the underrepresented voices of women in the Latinx community from their own perspective,” said Jennifer McCabe, SMoCA director and chief curator.

Beginning with works by two well-known photographers, Luis González Palma and Pedro Meyer, “Division of Labor” inspired Sanchez and Muñoz to expand on the narrow understanding of Latinx identity as seen in the SMoCA Collection. Working with a selection of nearly 20 works chosen through the unifying context of labor and the gaze, the artists invited long-term collaborators Ammi Robles and the collective DouglaPrieta Trabajan (DPT) to create new works following an historical continuum through a collaborative process foundational to their artistic practice.

“From the artists’ viewpoints of feminisms, labor and gaze, there were few representative works from SMoCA’s Collection. Therefore, Sanchez and Muñoz incorporated their community-based, skill-sharing practice to build new works. In this forward-thinking approach the artists’ turn their cameras on themselves and invited the collective DouglaPrieta Trabajan (DPT) to do the same. The resulting images that make up the exhibition represent Latinx women from their own perspective, which is a complete innovation in this context,” said McCabe.

The artists’ long-standing relationship with the collective DouglaPrieta Trabajan (DPT) typifies the framework of horizontal leadership and power-sharing that is at the heart of their practice. Together, the group of 10 female artists offer a unique perspective on labor in connection to feminisms, identity, equity and the gaze that reaches across the United States/Mexico border. This helps to shape and re-center the often-overlooked experiences of Latinx women living in the Southwest. The exhibition also addresses biases traditionally ascribed to laborers.

The artists featured in “Division of Labor” have worked transnationally over the past five years and, in this context, present a series of new portraits and self-portraits that break the conventional modes of artist and subject. Featured artists include M. Jenea Sanchez, Gabriela Muñoz, Ammi Robles, Trinidad Brasil Anguamea, Dulce Guadalupe Garcia Anguamea, Higinia Arce, Bertha Alicia Alvarado Arce, Rosalinda Sagaste Chavez, Victoria Guadalupe Nieblas Valenzuela and Matilde Sagaste.

“For myself — as a young curator of color — this exhibition adds to a movement that is shaping a way forward. In honoring, uplifting, and making visible the women in this exhibition we highlight what has been lost, but also what could potentially be gained. In terms of past, present, and future, what it means to nurture and be nurtured,” said Keshia Turley, SMoCA’s curatorial assistant.

“Division of Labor: Women Shifting a Transnational Gaze” is curated by M. Jenea Sanchez and Gabriela Muñoz in conjunction with Jennifer McCabe, director and chief curator, and Keshia Turley, curatorial assistant. This exhibition is supported in part by Surdna Foundation/National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC).

Upcoming 2021 Exhibitions
“Diedrick Brackens: Ark of Bulrushes” on view Feb. 20 – Aug. 22, 2021

“Division of Labor: Women Shifting a Transnational Gaze” on view Feb. 20 – Aug. 22, 2021

“Land/s” extended through April 11, 2021
“BEYOND: Works by Nellie King Solomon and Barbara Stauffacher Solomon” extended through April 18, 2021
“VOICE-OVER: Zineb Sedira” on view May 8 – Sept. 5, 2021

“Mimi O Chun: It’s all cake” on view Sept. 4, 2021 – Jan. 30, 2022

“Brad Kahlhamer: Swap Meet” on view Sept. 25, 2021 – Jan. 23, 2022


SCOTTSDALE ARTS

Through its partnership with the city of Scottsdale, the nonprofit Scottsdale Arts (formerly known as Scottsdale Cultural Council) creates diverse, inspired arts experiences and educational opportunities that foster active, lifelong community engagement with the arts. Since its founding in 1987, Scottsdale Arts has grown into a regionally and nationally significant, multi-disciplinary arts organization offering an exceptional variety of programs through four acclaimed branches — Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale Public Art and Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation — serving more than 600,000 participants annually. In conjunction with the City of Scottsdale, we also host more than 200,000 people annually on our campus through a robust rentals program.

SCOTTSDALE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Founded in 1999, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) explores the best of contemporary art, architecture and design. Global in its focus, the Museum is a unique and vital cultural resource for the Southwest, serving local audiences as well as visitors from the United States and abroad. Designed by award-winning architect Will Bruder, SMoCA’s minimalist building (an ingenious renovation of a former movie theater) has four galleries for showcasing changing exhibitions and works from the Museum’s collection, along with SMoCA Lounge, a living, functional art installation and space for community engagement. The Museum presents a wide variety of educational programs and special events for adults and families, including lectures, readings, performances, docent-led tours, workshops and classes. SMoCA also features an outdoor sculpture garden housing James Turrell’s “Knight Rise,” one of the renowned artist’s public skyspaces, and “Scrim Wall,” a monumental curtain of translucent glass panels by James Carpenter Design Associates. The Museum’s retail store, Shop@SMoCA, offers classic design objects and furnishings, contemporary jewelry, art and architecture books, and imaginative gifts for all occasions.

VISITOR INFORMATION

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251

www.SMoCA.org

www.SMoCA.org/reopening-guidlines

480-874-4666

[email protected]

HOURS

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Thursday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
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ADMISSION

$10 adults, $7 students, seniors (65+) and veterans; free for members and children under 15

Free every Thursday and every second Saturday of the month.

MEDIA: Digital images can be downloaded at http://sarts.co/38WnxN6. Password: ScottsdaleArts2021

For interviews or additional information, please contact:

Virginia McInnis

Public Relations Specialist

Scottsdale Arts

Phone: 480-874-4663

Email: [email protected]

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