TalkAbout: Identity and Heritage

Join us for a conversation and performance for the exhibition, Delimitations, or words to live by. 

TalkAbout: Identity and Heritage will address themes from the exhibition, including identity and how it’s projected and perceived; the notion and function of what it means specifically to be Mexican American; and the idea of the institution (whether art, military, or otherwise). Artist Alexandra Robinson will lead the discussion with panelists Annette DiMeo Carlozzi, Michael Anthony García, Robert Jackson Harrington, and Isabel Servantez.

In the brief, accompanying performance, Generational Flag Bearer (Americana), nine young girls will communicate important themes in the exhibition using semaphore formations.

TalkAbout is a program that facilitates casual conversations with artists and the people who inspire them. This event is free and open to the public.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Alexandra Robinson is a visual artist who uses language and symbols in her creative practice. She grew up in the military and has lived all over the world; because of the semi-transient nature of moving every two years she has a longing for place and identity and explores these themes in her work. Robinson was raised with her immediate family; an intersection of her Mexican and Jewish heritage which has cultivated a complexity in how she sees and experiences the world. She earned a BA at the University of Saint Mary in Sociology and an MFA in 2D studies from the University of Cincinnati. She has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions; some recent selections Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City; Salina Art Center, Salina; Lawndale Arts Center, Houston;  Mass Gallery, Austin; Lightwell Gallery at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids and The Contemporary Austin. Robinson is an Associate Professor of Art at St. Edward’s University in Austin where she lives with her husband and two daughters.

Annette DiMeo Carlozzi is a champion of local artist communities who stays abreast of international developments and has a keen eye for emerging talent and a steadfast commitment to looking beyond labels. Best known in Austin as the founding modern and contemporary curator at the Blanton and as co-leader of The Contemporary’s Crit Group, Carlozzi has built an expansive curatorial practice creating seminal exhibitions (Luis Jiménez, Peter Saul, Paul Chan: Present Tense, Mike’s World, Desire), producing important commissions (Nancy Holt, Siah Armajani, Betye Saar, Teresita Fernández), and acquiring major works by a wide range of contemporary artists (Acconci, Mendieta, Ligon, Kim, Adkins, Lozano, Jacir). After training at Walker Art Center and serving as the first professional curator at Laguna Gloria Art Museum (now The Contemporary Austin), she served as Director of the Aspen Art Museum, Executive Director of the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, and Visual Arts Producer for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Named to the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in 2013, Carlozzi is now an independent curator and will open a new exhibition—After Carolee: Tender and Fierce—at Artpace, San Antonio in early 2021.

Michael Anthony García is a multidisciplinary artist & independent curator claiming both Mexican and US citizenship, is based in Austin, Texas, and predominantly focuses his practice around photography/ video, sculpture/ installation & performance. He is a founding member of Los Outsiders curatorial collective & has curated large-scale exhibitions of international artists, in & out of the US.  Notably, he has had solo curatorial projects for Mexic-arte Museum, Texas State University Galleries, the gallery at the Austin Central Public Library and Fusebox Festival. He participated in the 2011 Texas Biennial & has won awards both for his curatorial & 3D work. He co-hosts an intersectional conversation podcast named El Puente and is publisher for POCa Madre Magazine. García has premiered work for The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Experimental Action Performance Art Biennale in Houston, The Contemporary Austin, SoundSpace at The Blanton Museum of Art, El Museo de la Ciudad de México, and ThreeWalls in Chicago.

Robert Jackson Harrington is an Austin based latinx visual artist who creates artwork from everyday materials that center on the concept of potential. Harrington received his BFA from the University of Texas at El Paso and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. His work has been included in exhibitions at the International Sculpture Center, Museo de Arte Juárez, The Contemporary Austin, Mexic-Arte Museum, Lawndale Art Center, and the University Art Galleries at Texas State. Most recently, Harrington has presented work at El Museo del Barrio in New York City and Wedge Project in Chicago, Illinois.

Isabel Servantez is the Curator of Exhibitions and Programs at Mexic-Arte Museum. He is focused on Chicana/o/x art, Latina/o/x art, institutional critique, and curation. Servantez is originally from San Antonio, where he received his BA in Art History from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). In 2019, he earned his MA in Modern and Contemporary Art History from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Throughout his studies, Servantez has focused on Chicano art. He has maintained a deep interest in the work of San Francisco Bay area artist Malaquias Montoya (whose work is in Mexic-Arte’s permanent collection) since first being exposed to it during his time at UTSA. He completed the yearlong Semmes Foundation Internship in Museum Studies at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. During his internship, Servantez co-curated The Art of SA Eats / Sabor a San Antonio, which is on view at the McNay through September 4, 2022. In 2021, he also participated in the NALAC Leadership Institute.