Traveling exhibition
Curated by C. Ondine Chavoya and David Evans Frantz
Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A. is a traveling exhibition that explores the work of over 50 queer and Chicanx artists working in Los Angeles between the late 1960s and early ’90s. While the exhibition’s heart looks at the work of Chicanx artists in Los Angeles, it reveals extensive new research into the collaborative networks that connected these artists to one another and to artists from many different communities, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, and international urban centers, thus deepening and expanding narratives about the development of the Chicano Art Movement, performance art, and queer aesthetics and practices.
As referenced in its title, the exhibition also sheds light onto the work of Edmundo “Mundo” Meza (1955–85), a central figure within his generation. Primarily a painter, but also known for his performances, design, and installation work, Meza collaborated with many of his peers towards developing new art practices amid emerging movements of political and social justice activism.
Axis Mundo presents over two decades of work—painting, performance ephemera, print material, video, music, fashion, and photography—in the context of significant artistic and cultural movements: mail art and artist correspondences; the rise of Chicanx, LGBTQ, and feminist print media; the formation of alternative spaces; fashion culture; punk music and performance; and artistic responses to the AIDS crisis. As a result of thorough curatorial research, Axis Mundo marks the first historical consideration and significant showing of many of these pioneering artists’ work.
Artists: Laura Aguilar, Jerri Allyn, Carlos Almaraz, Skot Armstrong, David Arnoff, Steven Arnold, Asco, Judith F. Baca, Tosh Carrillo, Monte Cazazza, Edward Colver, Vaginal Davis, DIVA TV, Jerry Dreva, Tomata du Plenty, Elsa Flores, Anthony Friedkin, Harry Gamboa Jr., Roberto Gil de Montes, Gronk, Jef Huereque, Louis Jacinto, Ray Johnson, Robert Lambert, Robert Legorreta (Cyclona), Les Petites Bonbons, Graciela Gutiérrez Marx and Edgardo-Antonio Vigo, Mundo Meza (including collaborations with Simon Doonan), Judy Miranda, Ray Navarro (including a collaboration with Zoe Leonard), Nervous Gender, Richard Nieblas, Pauline Oliveros (including collaborations with Alison Knowles), Dámaso Ogaz, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Clemente Padín, Ferrara Brain Pan, Phranc, Ruby Ray, Albert Sanchez, Teddy Sandoval, Jack Smith, Joey Terrill, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Patssi Valdez, Ricardo Valverde, Jack Vargas, Gerardo Velázquez, Johanna Went, and Faith Wilding
The exhibition is organized by ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries in collaboration with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. It was conceived as part of Pacific Standard Time (PST): LA/LA, an initiative of the Getty to encourage ambitious research and exhibitions at Southern California cultural institutions. Since PST’s first iteration in 2011, ICI has partnered with curators and art spaces to make PST available to audiences beyond the region through events and traveling exhibitions. In addition to the presentation of Axis Mundo, ICI will initiate a series of public talks by curators of PST projects at the Curatorial Hub in New York throughout 2017-18; and will partner with Otis College of Art and Design to develop the tour of Talking to Action: Art, Pedagogy, and Activism in the Americas, curated by Bill Kelley Jr., through 2019.
Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A. was made possible with the support of the Getty Foundation, and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. For a complete list of additional supporters, please visit ICI’s website.
Exhibition debut
MOCA Pacific Design Center and ONE Gallery, West Hollywood
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Through December 31, 2017
Touring dates
2018–20
About Independent Curators International (ICI)
ICI produces exhibitions, events, publications, research and training opportunities for curators and diverse audiences around the world. Established in 1975, ICI is a hub that connects emerging and established curators, artists, and art spaces, forging international networks and generating new forms of collaborations in contemporary art.
Exhibition booking contact
Becky Nahom: becky [at] curatorsintl.org
Press contact
Bessie Zhu: bessie [at] curatorsintl.org
