Local Artists Featured in ‘Out of Place’
Ruth Estévez, the director and curator of the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) in downtown Los Angeles since 2012, juries Westmont’s annual exhibition featuring Tri-Country artists May 18-June 24 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. A free, opening reception for “Out of Place,” which features 36 local artists, is Thursday, May 18, from 4-6 p.m. at the museum.
The museum will announce the winner of the $1,000 Diane Dodds and David Reichert First Prize, first honorable mention, second honorable mention, and the Art Council third honorable mention awards.
Estévez reviewed 340 entries by 155 artists, selecting 52 works for exhibition. The artists are from Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties and use media ranging from stone sculpture, painting and collage.
“We had one of the best responses yet for our juried show “Out of Place,” says Judy Larson, R. Anthony Askew professor of art history and museum director. “Ruth selected 36 artists who interpreted our theme in a variety of provocative and interesting ways. This is a very strong showing of artists from the Central Coast region.”
Estévez, originally from Bilbao, Spain, was previously at Museum of Contemporary Art Carrillo Gil in Mexico City, where she co-founded the nonprofit LIGA, Space for Architecture. At REDCAT, she’s worked with artists including Pablo Bronstein, Javier Tellez, and Allora & Calzadilla.
Current projects include “It is Obvious from the Map,” which examines the role of maps and map-making in the migration crisis between zones of conflict around the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East.
In 2013, she published a book, “Edgardo Aragon: La Trampa - the Trap,” a bilingual publication that was the first devoted to the work of Aragon, one of Mexico’s most promising artists.
She holds a master’s degree in art history from Mexico’s National Autonomous University where she is completing a doctorate.