Radical Localism: Art, Video and Culture from Pueblo Nuevo’s Mexicali Rose

Published on the occasion of Radical Localism: Art, Video and Culture from Mexicali’s Pueblo Nuevo, Artists Space, New York, March 31 – May 27, 2012

Organized by Chris Kraus and Marco Vera with Artists Space.

Radical Localism: Art, Video and Culture from Pueblo Nuevo’s Mexicali Rose is a survey of work from Mexicali Rose, a community media center and gallery in the Mexican border city Mexicali. A nexus for cultural and personal exchange between artists, journalists, activists and filmmakers on both sides of the border, Mexicali Rose exemplifies the possibilities of 21st century hybridized culture through its pursuit of artistic expression grounded in barrio life.

Founded by Mexicali-born filmmaker Marco Vera in 2007 as an audio-visual workshop for neighborhood kids in border-adjacent Pueblo Nuevo, the workshop quickly expanded to include craft and trade classes, a community gallery exhibiting the work of local and international artists, a cinema club that showcases the work of Mexican and foreign filmmakers, and a radio station formed to provide a free and uncensored platform for local youth.

The exhibition features a wide range of work from this innovative space, including experimental and documentary films produced by the workshop; photographs, paintings and collages by Mexicali-based, international artists Pablo Castañeda, Carlos Coronado and Julio Torres; photographs by documentarians Rafael Veytia, Odette Barajas and Zeta journalist Sergio Haro; multimedia works by Victor Gonzalez, Alejandrina Nuñez, Luis Hernandez and Jose Miguel Salcido; and an original mural created by Fernando Corona.