User:Citlalynunez/sandbox

Background
Carmen Argote was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1981. Argote is a Los Angeles based artist which has resulted in her artwork being revolved around the city. Argote's art focuses on combining architecture with that of the personal and using what is around us to be able to express ones story. In her art she explains her immigrant experience and how it has shaped her connection with the spaces that surround her to create a sense of belonging and a notion of what the home is. She uses the environment around her as a medium to see the merging it creates with her own body. But, not only does Argote demonstrate her personal stories she also works with others to create a larger vision of the shared experiences.

Education
Was an "Artists In Residence" at Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, in Maine in 2009

Attended University of California, Los Angeles where she received her MFA in 2007

Attended University of California, Los Angeles where she received her BA in 2004

Early Life
Carmen Argote's family moved to Los Angeles, CA from Guadalajara,Mexico when she was only five years old. Argote attended a community college near her home where she took her first art class and there she soon realized art was something she wanted to pursue. She had never considered this a possibility since she knew of no one in her family pursuing art as a career.But, she decided to pursue it anyways as it was something she was passionate about and had lots of talent. The reason for her exploration of what the notion of home is came about after her father decided to leave Los Angeles and go back to Mexico when she was 17 years old. He left Argote and her family because he wanted to live out his dream of building a home in Mexico for his family and living in it. This led to one of her most recent and most famous works, “If only it were that easy…(2018)” which is an ongoing artwork.

Career
Growing up for 5 years in Mexico then leaving everything behind and traveling to the United States created a mixed identity for Carmen Argote. She had to leave behind her home and create a whole new life in Los Angeles, CA and learn how to interact with her new environment. Argote through her art found a way to incorporate her notions of home from Mexico into that of the United States by using reminders of her home in Guadalajara such as paintings, textiles, or even photographs. Her artwork has allowed her to combine the home and the immigrant experience from a personal perspective which is that of her own and of those around her through the use of their personal objects. Throughout her career she has been inspired to explore more deeply everything that has happened in her life even those she cannot remember because she was too young. She has received several awards throughout her artistic career such as the YoYoYo Grant by the Rema Hort Mann Foundation in 2015 and in 2013 she received the Emerging Artist Grant by the California Community Foundation.

Artwork
Carmen Argote uses the physical space she inhibits in order to connect with it on an economic or even cultural perspective. She uses a wide array of materials that range from fiberglass to coffee pots or even mantas to produce photographs, sculptures, and exhibits. Argote through her artwork creates a connection between our surroundings to stem away from just the individual and instead focus on how we inhibit these spaces that have a history of their own. All these different mediums from distinct landscapes create stories and narratives either from the past or present that can be felt through ones body.

Major Artwork
When Carmen Argote’s father left to Mexico from Los Angeles he did so on a California Moto Guzzi V11 EV motorcycle. This was a memory that never left Argote's mind. Once she finally decided it was time to visit her father back in Mexico she saw his motorcycle was still with him and realized the connection that motorcycle had with her. She explains how riding the motorcycle back to the starting point of where her father left would help her heal the pain she had felt from her fathers abandonment. She created this project where she called out to artists who ride or have ridden motorcycles in order to learn not just how to ride the bike but to understand the relationship it has with oneself. She called out the artists to meet at Griffith Park and set up a system to be able to speak with one another while riding the motorcycles and it allowed those near by to listen in on the conversation and be able to hear what those riding motorcycles were thinking about and navigate their environment without necessarily riding the bikes. This project helps explain the feeling that motorcyclists have with their bikes and how they inhibit each space that they ride their bike too and from. Her project will be culminated when she is finally able to bring back her fathers bike from Mexico to Los Angeles. In doing so she can be able to understand the experience and journey her father had and be able to interpret it through her own body.
 * If only it were that easy…, 18th Street Arts Center Artist Lab, Santa Monica, CA

The materials featured in this exhibition include linen, fiberglass, cotton rope, and many other unique articles. The inspiration for Argote to construct this art-piece was Lincoln Park, a place near and dear to her as it is close to the area she grew up in. Lincoln Park was a place Argote could go to reflect but also think about all the inequalities that exist within that area. The artpiece is 5 feet tall, Argote designed it after a mound that was located in the actual Lincoln Park Lake. The creative process began with Argote using the tall piece as an island in her studio, and locating a cover underneath where the paint drips would fall on top of. She painted the mound with a variety of colors that each reminded her of her times and memories when she visited the park. The cover in the end was used to cover the piece which was symbolic of the mound at the lake that covered what was underneath.
 * Filtration System for a Process Based Practice

Exhibitions
Carmen Argote has a wide array of both solo and group exhibitions dating back to 2004 all the way till present day, the following are some of her most notable exhibitions:

Solo Exhibitions
 * 2017
 * 1) Deterioro y Poder, Instituto de Vision, Bogota, Col
 * 2) Pyramids, Panel LA, Los Angeles, CA
 * 2016
 * 1) Alex’s Room, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
 * 2) Mansion Magnolia, Shulamit Nazarian, Venice, CA
 * 2014
 * 1) My father’s side of Home, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
 * 2010
 * 1) 720 Sq.ft. Household Mutations, G727, Los Angeles, CA

Group Exhibitions
 * 2018
 * 1) Made in L.A. 2018, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
 * 2) Pacific Standard Time Performance Festival, REDCAT, Los Angeles,
 * 3) The House Imaginary, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
 * 2017
 * 1) Monarchs, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
 * 2) Mi Tierra: Contemporary Artists Explore Place, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
 * 2014
 * 1) 5th Chicana/o Biennial, MACLA, San Jose, CA