“Bajito Y Suavecito: Mujeres de Lowriding highlights work that has been made by Jacqueline Valenzuela, a woman artists who also owns and cruises her own lowrider. The artist spotlights women within the lowrider community which are usually ignored in this male-dominated community. Usually when someone who is an outsider of the lowrider world thinks of women and these candied cars they think of the highly sexualized women merely placed alongside the car. This is because what is mainly shown to those outside of the community are the models in their swimsuits or provocative outfits. What is not as well known is the large amount of women lowriders within this community. These women are the ones that have their own cars, are part of lowrider clubs, have grown up around lowriders, cruise alongside their husbands but in their own cars. These women are highlighted in Jacqueline’s work by bringing their real-life experiences and the major roles they play to a forefront.
Using bold colors, portraiture, and the urban landscape she creates compositions that emphasize femininity in a male-dominated world. Her work combines the erasure of women lowrider with the murals that are commonly seen in Latinx communities that focus on religion and social issues. This creates a familiar facade for the viewer. The canvas as a whole is meant to mimic a defaced mural riddled with buff marks, graffiti overlapping over and over, and pixelizations. All of which hint at the erasure or censoring of an almost holy figure (the woman). The various artistic languages that travel throughout the picture plane bring forth the everyday scenery that these women face. The overwhelming amount of different colors and imagery all clashed together demand the audience, whether outsiders of Chicano lowriders, to not overlook the woman. Giving an unedited version of these women, their candied cars, and a rough urban landscape.”
This is the basis of the whole show. Within the span of a year I was able to complete 62 paintings that dove deep into every aspect of women in the lowrider community and the landscape/environments in which they maneuver. Some of the work was done during my last semester at CSULB. While some was done in the months since graduating with my Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. During the process my art grew rapidly. Mostly because of the amount of work that had to happen in order to fill the gallery space.
26 of the paintings were made during my final semester at CSULB. 3 were completed and never touched again. 2 of those were made at the beginning of the semester and were highly successful as far as material experimentation. The 3rd of the trio was made at the end of the semester and was a major milestone in what would develop post-graduation. Another 3 were completed but were completely redone after graduation because by the end of the semester I had started to finally develop an artistic language that was cohesive with what I envisioned in my mind. And these three did not fit into that ideal set of work. 20 of them were made as experimental pieces to figure out how different colors, materials and artistic languages could work together in one place.
36 of these paintings were made after graduating from CSULB. They range widely in sizes. The smallest being 8”x8” and the largest reaching 66”x72”. Some were more experimental and dealt mostly with graffiti. Others leaned towards a mixture of graffiti and urban scenery to create an abstract version of this environment. And a handful combined all of this with the figure in order to create a full image of what these women and their lives are like.
All together the 62 paintings brought my ideas for this show to fruition. I grew in many ways throughout the process of putting together this show. Opening night was a success. I received endless support from friends and family as well as from people who had joined my journey in different times through IG. It was heartwarming to know that something that I create in order to make a stand for myself and these women has reached so many people beyond my circle of friends and family. For that I am highly grateful. So thank you to everyone who had the opportunity to come out for my opening night. I was also fortunate to sell 4 paintings. So thank you to those who bought work. It means a lot.
Above, I have attached install shots as well as some pictures from opening night. As for the show, it will be up until February 27th. The gallery hours are Monday-Thursday from 4pm-8pm and Saturday from 10am-2pm. So there is plenty of time to catch it before it is taken down. Also keep an eye out for other shows I will be participating in for the rest of 2020.