Galería de la Raza Presents Comida Es Medicina

Co-curated by Suzy González and Luz Calvo

Saturday, August 4, 2018 - Friday, November 2, 2018

Exhibition Opening Reception August 11th | 6pm

Comida es Medicina considers the topic of food justice from Latinx, Chicanx, Central American, indigenous, and immigrant perspectives. This group exhibition contests white supremacy by uplifting the knowledge, traditions, and practices of immigrant and indigenous members of our communities in relation to food, ancestral knowledge, and respect for Mother Earth.

The exhibition consists of a wide variety of artistic forms, including paintings, screenprints, videos, zines, sculptures, installation, and mixed media. The exhibition will extend to Galería’s Digital Mural Project, Galería, and Studio 24. 

The selected works demonstrate the diverse ways that contemporary Latinx artists uplift indigenous and immigrant food knowledge, while also providing a powerful critique of  the exploitation embedded in the current foods systems. Several of the pieces provide a pointed critique of  the greedy underside of agribusiness, gentrification, appropriation, and the genetic modification of our sacred corn. Taken as a whole, the pieces in the show powerfully represent the multiple ways our communities are creating bold visions of food justice, decolonization, and community healing.

The works exhibited in Studio 24 are interactive pieces produced by artists from various immigrant communities. This art encourages the viewer to draw connections between their own food memories and other communities’ experiences of longing, belonging, and exclusion. 

This exhibition is co-curated by Suzy González and Luz Calvo, with support from the Galería staff.  Comida es Medicina is supported in part by the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Southwest Airlines, and the Surdna Foundation through a grant from the NALAC Fund for the Arts Grant Program.

Exhibiting Artists: 

Adriana Carranza & Alfonso Aceves, Kali Arte

Joe Angel-Toledo

Juana Alicia Araiza

Efren Ave

Pat Badani

Jesus Barraza

Elizabeth Rojas Blancas

Michelle Bonilla

Paola de la Calle

Diego Camposeco

Melanie Cervantes

Chris Chiltic Luna

Carlos Colin

Pablo Cristi

Federico Cuatlacuatl

Adrian Delgado

April Bojorquez & Matt Garcia, Desert ArtLAB

Gloria Félix

Yolanda Guerra

Hope Flores

Alex Jimenez

Irene Juana O'Connel 

Raquel Kalil

Pao Lebron

Nancy Ramona Ledesma

Veronica Perez

Olivia Ramos

Kimberly Robertson

Alán Serna

Debora Kuetzpal Vasquez

Liliana Wilson 

Edgar Xochitl

Ernesto Yerena Montejano 

Mirta Zak

Thy Tran

Shubalakshmi Shekar

Sita Bhaumik, Jocelyn Jackson & Saqib Keval, People's Kitchen Collective

Fereshteh Toosi

Juan Pablo Rahal Soto

Quesadilla Lab

Pao Lebron, Cuir Kitchen Brigade

Tere Almaguer, Jaqueline Gutierrez & Fernando Martí, PODER SF

Image: Maíz by Federico Cuatlacuatl

Free and Open to the public.

Photos