MATA ART GALLERY
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • MISSION STATEMENT
    • CONNECT >
      • EMAIL
      • INSTAGRAM
      • YOUTUBE
      • NEWSLETTER >
        • SUBSCRIBE
        • ISSUE 11/08/22
  • GALLERY
    • NOW ON VIEW >
      • HATAK (2022) >
        • EXHIBITION
        • OPENING PERFORMANCE: Sayaw ng Pagitan (≈ Dance of Distance)
        • ABOUT THE ARTISTS
        • PRICE LIST
    • EXHIBITION ARCHIVE >
      • 2022 >
        • KAPWA: Communal Spirit >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Bios + Statements
          • Full Price List
          • Opening Reception Recap
        • FOR GOOD?
      • 2021 >
        • While We Are Here >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Bios
          • Programming
        • HATAK 2021
        • Exhibition Room
        • I Remember 2020 >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Bios
        • Entropical Latitudes >
          • Exhibition
          • Programming
          • Support
      • 2020 >
        • MERKADITO PASKO 2020
        • UNTOLD PARALLELS >
          • EXHIBITION
          • Artist Bios & Statements
        • QUALITY TIME >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Bios & Statements
  • RESOURCES
    • EMERGENCY RESOURCES
    • ANTI-RACISM & BLM RESOURCES
    • JOBS & ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES
    • RECOMMENDATIONS
  • DONATE
    • HOW TO DONATE >
      • VENMO
      • PAYPAL
      • CASH.APP
      • ZELLE: info@mataartgallery.org
    • GIFTS FOR OUR DONORS
    • FRIENDS OF MATA ART GALLERY
    • TRANSPARENCY >
      • ABOUT
      • DONATIONS, EXPENSES, SALES >
        • 2022-23
        • 2020-2021

I REMEMBER 2020

Memories of 2020 preserved through film & poetry.

Photography Curated by Nica Aquino
Poetry Curated by Nikolai Garcia

April 20 -  July 25, 2021

Please view from a computer for the full experience.
For questions or to purchase, please email info@mataartgallery.org

*CONTENT WARNING*
This imagery contains triggering memories from 2020, regarding racial violence, police violence, and COVID isolation.


Artist Pairings in Order of Appearance (poets x photographers):
  • bridgette bianca x Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin
  • Mauricio 'Soul on Fire' Moreno x Sebastian Ospina
  • Karla Cordero x Christopher Velasco
  • Monica Serrano x Brian Braganza
  • Brian Dunlap x Animus J.
  • Mia x Nica Aquino
  • karo ska x Valerie J. Bower
  • Ellie Lopez x Michelle Anna Boire
  • Jessica Ceballos x Semantha Norris
  • Irene Suico Soriano x Courtney Coles
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS

PLEASE VIEW ONLINE GALLERY FROM A COMPUTER FOR THE FULL EXPERIENCE.

Click images to enlarge.

the recipe

they say how you sad with the sand the ocean the palm trees
i say south central is the land of concrete and strips of green
my backyard the furthest i been in months ain’t no ocean breeze
the wind carries horns from earth wind and fire and ash
palm trees just ragged scrub brushes stretching for the sky
for spots we couldn’t reach even with the endeavor up the street

bridgette bianca
(South Central LA, CA)
2021
Picture
Distant Palm. 2020

Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin
(LA, CA)
March 2020

Photographed using a Contax T2 camera on 35mm Kodak Portra 160 film.

8”x10” prints available for $75 each.

Essential Worker

Scrubs model, feet sore
steals back time for a quick nap
heroes take breaks here.

Mauricio 'Soul on Fire' Moreno
(Long Beach, CA)
2021
Picture
Solitude

Sebastian Ospina
(Medellin, Colombia)
2020

Photographed using Olympus Trip MD camera on 35mm Fujicolor C200 film.

Please contact gallery regarding prints.

Ode to the Wild Shrub

so let us praise the wild shrub
oh greenest of miracles
bundle of growth despite
the absent spill of rain
praise your reaching limps
praise how you drink the sun
with your open mouth
always ready for light to sing
its life giving song

Karla Cordero
(San Diego, CA)
2021
Picture
"The Last Bottle"
from the Polaroids of South Pasadena series

Christopher Velasco
(South Pasadena, CA)
2020

Photographed using a Polaroid Impulse AF camera on B&W Polaroid Originals 600 (instant film).

$100 for original Polaroid.

Picture
Through the Navy Yard

Brian Braganza
(NYC, New York)
Early Summer, Brooklyn 2020

Photographed using a Holga camera on 120mm Kodak Portra 400 film.

Language of the night

What does the dark say?
I stare into the night
It used to be a second language to me
A foreigner now
I think it’s time for bed.

Monica Serrano
(Compton, CA)
2021
Advertisements

A glut of pop culture advertisements flood the senses.
Mass marketed stereotypes of violence, gender, strength, of cool,
shape the next generation
in ways they don't realize.

Brian Dunlap
(LA, CA)
2021
Picture
Netflix

Animus J.
(Taipei, Taiwan)
2020

Photographed using a Nikon Fm3A camera on
6 year expired 35mm Fujifilm pro 400H.

Digital prints and photo book available for purchase.
Please contact gallery to inquire.

Picture
NOT MY SAVIOR (Junípero Serra)

Nica Aquino
(Northeast LA, CA)
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. May 2020

Photographed using an Olympus Stylus Epic point and shoot camera on 35mm Kodacolor Gold 400 film.

Prints available by request.
Please contact gallery to inquire.

We Are Flowers

I am the red faced Flower.
Birthed of violence; nursed by Mothers' blood.
Thrusting in search of sky, I will continue to seed.
My Children rebellious and joyful.
I’ve lost count how many...
More are coming.

Mia
(National [Nasty] City, CA)
2021
untitled

We walk the paths of dark to find light.
Where the gods gave us color, when the sun sets.
Vibrant colors to remind us that the sun is always within arms reach.
As the skies go dark, our paths are lined in the colors of the sun.
Bright Yellows and Oranges-- arrays of golden hour hues.
Never forgetting light is within reach, even in the smallest of places.

Ellie Lopez
(Tracy, CA)
2021
Picture
mo(u)rning walk

Michelle Anna Boire
(Sonora, CA)
2020

Photographed on expired 35mm color film.

Picture
Out Front

Valerie J. Bower
(Long Beach, CA)
2020

Photographed using a Minolta X-700.

what if we abolished the police?

they come to the hood
serving inverse of justice
the hood says no more

karo ska
(LA, CA)
2021
in search of civil disobedience

and we keep keeping onuses
(not money) hidden hiding under mattresses
and things. when really, all we should be doing is
everything we should be doing
to keep them from killing murdering (hide) you
over and over and over and     (not) again

Jessica Ceballos
(LA, CA)
2021
Picture
ACAB

Semantha Norris
(LA, CA)
May 30, 2020

Photographed using a Olympus Mju I camera on 35mm B&W Ilford HP5 film.

Prints available by request. Please contact gallery to inquire.

Brushes, Bottles & Glass
for Johnny Luong

Weren’t all of us born under an angry star oh Johnny?
Transforming in front of mirrors…you still found your way.
Life for femme boys from faraway countries is hard
but all that was dim could never touch you. Oh Johnny
building galaxies on your face, bursting suns for eyes
peeling off colors through clothes at the disco every Friday night.

Irene Suico Soriano
(San Fernando Valley, CA)
2021
Picture
friday; 11.06.2020

Courtney Coles

(LA, CA)
2020

Photographed using a Polaroid Onestep+ camera.

Prints available by request. Please email gallery to inquire.


Picture
About:
Ten photographers were selected to present one photograph each of a memory from 2020 they preserved on analogue film; ranging from 35mm, medium format & Polaroids. Having the photographs documented on film, a palpable element of memory preservation, added another layer of revisiting this year. Who says you can't put your arms around a memory?

With the help of guest poetry curator, Nikolai Garcia, ten poets were assigned one photograph each to respond to with a new original short poem based on their own memories of 2020.

Together, we have our first visual art + literary collaboration for the one-year anniversary show of MATA ART GALLERY & a celebration of National Poetry Month.

(Background photo details by Michelle Anna Boire)


Poetry by: bridgette bianca, Jessica Ceballos, Karla Cordero, Brian Dunlap, Ellie Lopez, Mauricio Moreno, Mia, Monica Serrano, Karo Ska, Irene Suico Soriano. Poetry curated by Nikolai Garcia.

Photography by: Nica Aquino, Michelle Anna Boire, Kwasi-Boyd Bouldin, Valerie J. Bower, Brian Braganza, Courtney Coles, Animus J., Semantha Norris, Sebastian Ospina, Christopher Velasco. Photography curated by Nica Aquino.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • MISSION STATEMENT
    • CONNECT >
      • EMAIL
      • INSTAGRAM
      • YOUTUBE
      • NEWSLETTER >
        • SUBSCRIBE
        • ISSUE 11/08/22
  • GALLERY
    • NOW ON VIEW >
      • HATAK (2022) >
        • EXHIBITION
        • OPENING PERFORMANCE: Sayaw ng Pagitan (≈ Dance of Distance)
        • ABOUT THE ARTISTS
        • PRICE LIST
    • EXHIBITION ARCHIVE >
      • 2022 >
        • KAPWA: Communal Spirit >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Bios + Statements
          • Full Price List
          • Opening Reception Recap
        • FOR GOOD?
      • 2021 >
        • While We Are Here >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Bios
          • Programming
        • HATAK 2021
        • Exhibition Room
        • I Remember 2020 >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Bios
        • Entropical Latitudes >
          • Exhibition
          • Programming
          • Support
      • 2020 >
        • MERKADITO PASKO 2020
        • UNTOLD PARALLELS >
          • EXHIBITION
          • Artist Bios & Statements
        • QUALITY TIME >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Bios & Statements
  • RESOURCES
    • EMERGENCY RESOURCES
    • ANTI-RACISM & BLM RESOURCES
    • JOBS & ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES
    • RECOMMENDATIONS
  • DONATE
    • HOW TO DONATE >
      • VENMO
      • PAYPAL
      • CASH.APP
      • ZELLE: info@mataartgallery.org
    • GIFTS FOR OUR DONORS
    • FRIENDS OF MATA ART GALLERY
    • TRANSPARENCY >
      • ABOUT
      • DONATIONS, EXPENSES, SALES >
        • 2022-23
        • 2020-2021