Exhibit explores home displays for Chicanos and maximalists in US
U. La Verne show includes paintings, assemblage, and installations
(LA VERNE, Calif. – Oct. 6, 2023) An exhibit celebrating eccentric display culture in American life will run from Oct. 31 through Nov. 30, 2023 in the Harris Gallery of Fine Art at the University of La Verne, titled “Cluttercore, Rasquachismo, and the Indelible Need to Display.” It was curated by Rachel Schmid.
In two seemingly different cultural communities, DIY-built displays for curated collections that reflect the lives and stories of their creators compete for breathing room. In both, recycled materials, found objects, and mass-produced kitsch find new meaning when carefully recontextualized as expressions of memory and identity.
Rasquachismo is a life outlook and artistic style originating from the Chicano (Mexican-American) communities of the American south west. Philosophically, it describes the mindset of beautifying from what little resources are available, repurposing everyday objects into new meaning or new life. It is surpassing survival into a thriving collective and placemaking from left overs. Often described as trashy, this aesthetic pairs arbitrary colors with often glorious excess. It could be a private altar in a hallway, a giant mural in an underpass, or an empty butter tub filled with salsa.
While rasquachismo has generations of history and expression, cluttercore is a newly recognized movement, with a basis in maximalist design aesthetics. Reminiscent of cabinets of curiosity, cluttercore’s sentimental interiors present found objects, familial memories, and curated kitsch. Crowded walls surround the creator with literally all the things make them happy.
In both instances, the designs and displays are a presentation of self; they are deeply linked with community and identity. The work in this exhibit touches the intersection of the two styles, visually highlighting their overlaps. Grand Rapid-based artist Mandy Cano Villalobos presents assemblages of mass-produced kitsch that meld pretty with beautiful-grotesque. Melora Garcia sculpts repurposed material into commentaries on familial memory and the dangers of the Anthropocene. Illustrator and designer Julia Emiliani contributes paintings of objects that link personhood representation with the things people cherished. Tessie Salcido Whitmore’s installation is process-based in her methodical collecting of antique materials, combined with pedestals as enduring methods of monumentalization. A still life by Anna Valdez doubles as a vanitas of old but recontextualized as utilitarian plastic and mass production of today is transfigured into objet d’art. Low-rider enthusiast Jacqueline Valenzuela’s art reuses car parts and elevates street culture to large-scale montages out of oil and acrylic.
The gallery is located in the Landis Academic Center at 1950 Third Street, La Verne campus. It is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday or by appointment. For more information please visit https://artsci.laverne.edu/art/exhibition.
