Carmen Argote's striking, impressive solo exhibition at UT Visual Arts Center

February 27, 2020

Alumna Carmen Argote received her B.A. from the UCLA Department of art in 2000 and her M.F.A. from the UCLA Department of Art in 2007. She was featured in the Hammer Museum's 2018 Made in L.A. biennial exhibition and now has an exhibition of work on view at The Visual Arts Center (VAC) at the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin.

Installation view of “Carmen Argote: Me At Market,” at the Visual Arts Center, University of Texas at Austin, January 24 –March 6, 2020. Photo: Sandy Carson.

"A pleasant, herb-like smell hits me as I enter the Visual Arts Center (VAC). The doors of the University of Texas gallery are propped open, and it has been raining all week. The humidity clings to my skin as I enter the air conditioning, and students hurry down the halls to class, their shoes squeaking on the sealed floors.

The scent is probably from cochineal, which Carmen Argote has used with great acumen in her installation “Me At Market.” Argote writes, “Cochineal is a substance that I’ve seen used in historical religious tapestries…. The reds of the cochineal dye composed a substantial part of the color palette for tapestries made in the 15th through 17th centuries. In looking at the color of the cochineal, I think about the Americas, its isolation from the rest of the world and its continued exploitation.”

And according to the press release, the Los Angeles-based artist “draws upon her immediate environment and its connection to systems of labor and consumption.” At the VAC, Argote uses two organic materials — cochineal dye and lemons. Materials such as these along with avocado, wine, and coffee reoccur in her practice because, as she writes, of their “ties to specific forms of labor, histories of violence and oppression, and colonialism.”

“Me At Market” sumptuously spreads out in the vaulted gallery. Yards of linen are cut and sewn in the shape of the courtyard’s footprint and hung on the wall. Uniform pockets are stitched by hand onto the fabric. Argote filled the pockets with the cochineal dye and lemon juice, then let the mixture drip down the wall. The effect is remarkable. The linen’s shape on the wall resembles the shadow of a person, their hands thrown up in surrender. The liquid bleeds down the stark white walls. Black and grey stains show the splash of the liquid as it hits the floor."— Thao Votang, Feb. 27, 2020

This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Sightlines Magazine website.
Read more about Carmen Argote.

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