Exhibition: November 4, 2018–January 27, 2019
Opening Reception: Sunday, November 4, 5 p.m.–7 p.m.
With the Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain (a 16th-century ethnographic research study in Mesoamerica by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún) at its core, the Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón, is a series of bioregional maps and paintings about the intersections of history, color, medicine, and culture. Rodriquez spent 2017 in the field researching, testing, cross referencing, and producing artworks with Mexican and Pre-Colombian materials. She has painstakingly recreated colors indigenous to the Americas and painted on amate, a handmade paper made from the bark of wild fig and mulberry trees. Drawing heavily on Book 12 of the Florentine Codex, which documents the Spanish invasion and conquest of Mexico, Rodriguez makes powerful historical and visual linkages to present day ICE agents in helmets and body armor capturing residents and activists in communities and workplaces. She also examines scenes of Spanish vessels and weapons, and presents them as 2018 US Customs Border enforcement vehicles used to capture residents. These include unmanned drones, marine vessels, and land and air vehicles.
An exhibition catalog will be available for purchase. The catalog was made possible in part by The James Irvine Foundation.
Sandy Rodriguez
Sandy Rodriguez is an artist and independent educator. Her artwork investigates the methods and materials of painting across cultures and histories. Her most recent work includes the Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón, a bioregional map and series of paintings about the intersections of history, color, medicine, and cultura. Her landscapes capture moments of transformation in the social, political, and cultural landscape of Los Angeles, with a focus on themes of resistance, persistence, and cultural regeneration. She was raised in San Diego, Tijuana, and Los Angeles. Rodriguez earned her BFA from California Institute of Arts and designed and administered education programs and resources for numerous museums and arts organizations since 1998. Teaching across constituencies is part of her artistic practice and embodies her belief that artists are critical to reshaping our time and place through civic engagement projects. She has exhibited at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; Art+Practice, Los Angeles; and Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles. This fall you can see her work at a solo museum exhibition at the Riverside Art Museum, as well as part of shows at The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Music Center, the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County. Recent awards include: American for the Arts Public Art Network Year In Review 2017 award (2018), City of Los Angeles COLA Master Artist Fellowship (2018–2019), The Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Trailblazer Award (2017–18), Artist-in-Residence for Los Angeles County Arts Commission (2016–2017), and Artist-in-Residence at Art+Practice in Leimert Park (2014–2015). Her artist communique and artwork are featured on the cover and in the Fall 2017 issue of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies from UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center. Rodriguez has been featured on CBC Radio Canada Hour le Monde, KQED Statewide Report, KPCC’s Off Ramp, Los Angeles Times, and KCET.
Exhibit-related programming
Artists Talk: 4 Threads Artists + Sandy Rodriguez
Sunday, November 4, 4 p.m.–5 p.m.
Artist panel moderated by Robb Hernández, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of English, at the University of California, Riverside. Panel participants include 4 Threads artists Jaime Zacarias, Jamie Chavez, Jaime Muñoz, and Gerardo Monterrubio, as well as Sandy Rodriguez, whose exhibition, Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón, opens this evening, and CSUSB Assistant professor, Ed Gomez. This panel is sponsored by Latino Network.
Opening Reception
Sunday, November 4, 5 p.m.–7 p.m.
Please join us for the opening reception of Sandy Rodriguez’s Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón, on Sunday, November 4, from 5 p.m.–7 p.m.
Kathryn Clark + Sandy Rodriguez Artists Talk
Saturday, January 26, 2019, 2:30 p.m.
Please join us as artists Kathryn Clark and Sandy Rodriguez walk you through their respective exhibitions, Refugee Stories and Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón. Both artists will be available for a Q&A session afterwards.
This exhibition is sponsored in part by:
