The Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery will present Spoken/Unspoken: Forms of Resistance, a new public exhibition running February 8 through March 17 at UC Santa Cruz.
Highlighting a collection of artists and activists engaged with different forms of resistance, the Sesnon show is part of a Santa Cruz countywide “Spoken/Unspoken” collaborative exhibition series that brings together 11 art venues, each presenting its own interpretation of the theme.
“The term ‘resistance’ can represent various profiles from opposition to struggle, and it can also portray resilience, strength, courage, and standing up for basic rights,” noted Sesnon Gallery director Shelby Graham. “Many artists examine the strength behind resistance and challenge the status quo from politics to art making.”
“The show will offer a diversity of topics and artistic approaches focused on particular moments and themes that remain relevant today—from questions of immigration and representation to the fight for equality,” Graham added.
“At the core of the exhibition is the belief that artists play a critical role in transforming our time by speaking out and shaping the future.”
Featured artists in the exhibition will include Ruth-Marion Baruch, Irene Carvajal, Jo Hanson, Laura Kina, Hung Liu, Yolanda Lopez, UC Santa Cruz film and digital media professor Irene Lusztig, and Yoko Ono, along with posters from the Guerrilla Girls.
A number of the works in the exhibition are from Self Help Graphics, a print studio and gallery founded in 1970 in East Los Angeles, dedicated to the production and distribution of prints and other art media by Chicano and Latino artists.
An opening reception will take place at the gallery on Thursday, February 8, beginning at 4:30 p.m., with remarks by guest speakers Betty Avila and Alexa Kim from Self Help Graphics at 6 p.m.
Avila and Kim will also present a public lecture titled “Art Transforms Communities” at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, in conjunction with the Sesnon exhibition, on Friday, Feb. 9, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Spoken/Unspoken: Forms of Resistance is sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Arts Division, History of Art and Visual Culture department, Chicano Latino Research Center, the Institute of the Arts and Sciences, and ARRT, a local Santa Cruz Art Collective.
Admission to the Sesnon Gallery is free and open to the public. For more information, call (831) 459-3606.
