Welcome to LACE

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions

  • Programs
    • Projects
    • Emerging Curator Program
    • Apprenticeship
    • Lightning Fund
    • Se habla español
  • Archive
    • Archive
    • Publications
  • About
    • Visit
    • History
    • Ethos
    • Board of Directors
    • Team
  • Support
    • Benefit Art Auction
    • Give Now
    • Membership
    • Supporters
    • Special Editions
  • Shop
    • Online Shop
You are here: Home / LACE / 2015-2019 / Customizing Language

Customizing Language


CL-Bookmark

Design: Estudio_ChP+ / José Manuel Cruz Vázquez

ES / EN 

Customizing Language
Curated by Idurre Alonso and Selene Preciado.
The inaugural presentation of the LACE Emerging Curator Program

Opening reception: January 6, 2016, 7PM-10PM
Exhibition dates: January 7-February 14, 2016

Customizing Language critically examines how language reflects geopolitical realities. The project approaches language as a tool to reflect power relations, hierarchies, social differences, and historical problems, as well as a cultural system of belonging that can indicate the loss or reconfiguration of certain kinds of identities. The participating artists engage local and historical issues by using experimental language to create a dialogue with the audience, exploring issues of “custom” as cultural tradition, U.S. Customs as an immigration agency, and lowrider customization in popular culture.

Exhibiting artists include: Alexander Apóstol (Venezuela, b. 1969. Resides in Madrid), Mely Barragán ( Tijuana, b. 1975. Resides in Tijuana and Beijing), Beatriz Cortez (El Salvador., b. 1970. Resides in Los Angeles), Marcos Ramírez ERRE (Mexico, b. 1961), Regina José Galindo (Guatemala, b. 1974. Resides in Guatemala), Luis G. Hernández (Mexicali, b. 1975. Resides in Mexicali), Camilo Ontiveros (Mexico, b. 1978. Resides in Los Angeles), Rubén Ortiz-Torres (Mexico City, b. 1964. Resides in Los Angeles), Gala Porras-Kim (Colombia, b. 1984. Resides in Los Angeles), and Clarissa Tossin (Brazil, b. 1973. Resides in Los Angeles).

Language + Art 
Sunday January 10, 2016 – 2PM-4PM
Join curators of Customizing Language Idurre Alonso and Selene Preciado in a panel with artists Beatriz Cortez, Rubén Ortiz-Torres, and Marcos Ramírez ERRE. The panel will address the use of text and translation in art raising up the formal and socio-political questions presented throughout the works of art in the exhibition.

Idurre Alonso is a Modern and Contemporary Latin American art curator. She has been recently appointed associate curator of Latin American Art at the Getty Research Institute. In spring 2014 she was hired as assistant curator at the Department of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, where she worked developing, together with Judith Keller, the Pacific Standard Time: Los Angeles/ Latin America initiative exhibition Contradiction and Continuity. Photography from Argentina, 1850-2015, scheduled for September 2017.  Before working at the Getty Museum, she was curator at the Museum of Latin American Art (Long Beach) (2003-2014) where she organized and coordinated numerous exhibitions, including LA Presencia. Latin American Art in the U.S. Collections (2007); Changing the Focus. Latin American Photography 1990-2005 (2010); Unresolved Circumstances. Video Art from Latin America (co-curated with Cecilia Fajardo-Hill) (2011); Play with me: Interactive Installations (co-curated with Cecilia Fajardo-Hill and Selene Preciado) (2012) and Regina Galindo. Vulnerable (2012).  Ms. Alonso has written numerous scholarly essays and articles for magazines and publications such as Art & Place. Site-Specific Art of the Americas (Phaidon Press Limited, 2013), Arte Al Dia News Mexico, and Arte al Límite Chile. She has lectured at significant events and institutions including the Getty Research Institute, the CAA Conference, Museo de Arte Moderno in Guatemala, and New Orleans Museum of Art, among others. Idurre Alonso holds a B.A in Art History from Universidad del País Vasco, Spain, and M.A. in Contemporary Art History from the same university. Her Ph.D. dissertation (in progress) focuses on conceptual photographic practices in Latin America.

Selene Preciado obtained an M.A. in Art and Curatorial Practices in the Public Sphere at the Roski School of Art and Design, University of Southern California, and is currently Program Assistant at the Getty Foundation, providing support in the Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA grant initiative. Prior to her current position at the Getty Foundation, Preciado worked as Curatorial Research Assistant at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles; as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, California (2009–2013); as Exhibitions Assistant at El Cubo, Centro Cultural Tijuana (2008–2009); as Curatorial Assistant at the San Diego Museum of Art (2006–2007); and as Exhibition Coordinator of Farsites: Urban Crisis and Domestic Symptoms in Recent Contemporary Art, the museum exhibition component of inSite_05, curated by Adriano Pedrosa (2005).  She received her B.A. in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego in 2005.

The Emerging Curator project was selected by panelists Connie Butler, Matias Viegener, and Nery Gabriel Lemus. Learn more about the Emerging Curator program here.

Press:
Hyperallergic Review 
Download Hyperallergic Review here 

Publication:
Customizing Language 7.5 x 8.5 in 

Photo credit: Chris Wormwald

This exhibition is a part of the Se habla español program at LACE. To view more bilingual projects, click here.

Filed Under: 2015-2019, Emerging Curator Program, Exhibition, LACE Tagged With: 2016, Alexander Apóstol, Beatriz Cortez, Camilo Ontiveros, Clarissa Tossin, Customizing Language, Exhibition, Gala Porras-Kim, Idurre Alonso, Luis G. Hernández, Marcos Ramírez ERRE, Mely Barragán, Regina José Galindo, Rubén Ortiz Torres, Selene Preciado

Visit

TEMPORARY OFFICE LOCATION
6464 Sunset Blvd.
Ste. 1070
Los Angeles, CA, 90028

tel: 1(323)250-0940
info@welcometolace.org

LACE recognizes our presence on Tovaangar, the unceded ancestral lands of the Gabrielino-Tongva people who are its rightful caretakers.

Lace Logo

Follow

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

GIVE NOW

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

News

Announcing the 2025 Lightning Fund and Jacki Apple Awards

“Beatriz da Costa: (un)disciplinary tactics” named Best Art by The New York Times

“Beatriz da Costa: (un)disciplinary tactics” Featured in The New York Times

More News

LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions)

welcometolace

We're excited to work with two new Getty Marrow Un We're excited to work with two new Getty Marrow Undergraduate Interns this summer! 

💫 Becca Choe, LACE's Curatorial Intern, is a student at Pomona College studying Art and Politics. She is interested in exploring themes of immigration, home, industrialization, and South Korean political movements with her work as both a student and artist.

💫 Jada Wong, LACE's Communications and Media Intern, is an illustrator, printmaker, and educator who creates whimsical characters and stories to make sense of the world around her. Jada merges her love for the absurd and humor with themes of identity, community, and social justice in her work. 

Join us in welcoming them to the LACE team!
We’re grateful to everyone who joined us at “T We’re grateful to everyone who joined us at “This Home, Forever,” curated by 2025 LACE Emerging Curator Nahui Garcia. The two-day event featured performances by: @0ll668 @perras.bravas @lapovertydepartment  @michelelorusso @pacoimatechno @jakioeoeo

These performances took place during a fraught weekend for Los Angeles, with sirens and helicopters heard across downtown Los Angeles. On Sunday, @perras.bravas performed “Borderland Feelings,” a piece that seeks to shed light on and gather testimonies about the experiences, emotions, and demands that emerge when crossing the border. Participants were invited to share their border-crossing experiences by writing or illustrating them on a butterfly. These butterflies were later read aloud during the performance and placed on a body, symbolizing how the border becomes a scar that marks those who cross it.

This performance, along with the rest of the program, felt especially significant on that day. LACE remains committed to presenting socially-engaged projects and was founded as an experimental artistic space for freedom of expression and art that is socially and politically engaging. 

We’re glad to have shared space with LACE friends, collaborators, and colleagues, as well as new friends. 

Photos by Angel Origgi. (@angeloriggi)
Please join us in welcoming two new members to the Please join us in welcoming two new members to the LACE team! 

 🌟 LACE’s new Communications + Event Coordinator, Ida Tongkumvong is a Los Angeles-based arts administrator and marketing professional with a passion for expanding access to the arts and fostering inclusivity within creative spaces. She holds a B.A. in Communications from UCLA. Her previous roles with Sounding Point, the LA Phil, and CAP UCLA deepened her commitment to broadening arts access through strategic partnerships, inclusive programming, and dynamic storytelling. With a keen interest in public art and community-based initiatives, Ida brings a thoughtful and collaborative approach to audience development and creative event planning within L.A.’s contemporary arts landscape. Outside of work, you’ll often find her at a flea market or estate sale, always on the hunt for a one-of-a-kind find.

 🌟 LACE’s new Production + Operations Coordinator, Johnny Young began making his mark on the Los Angeles arts scene as Gallery and Programming Manager for the Juicy Beats Artist Exchange Lounge in 2000. He has worked with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), where he played a key role in production and management for their First Fridays program; he was also selected for the prestigious Diversity Apprenticeship Program (DAP) at The Broad, a competitive initiative aimed at training the next generation of museum and gallery professionals from underrepresented communities. Johnny brings a sharp eye for detail, a commitment to equity in the arts, and a dedication to amplifying voices that challenge the boundaries of convention.
Did you get your tickets for “This Home, Forever Did you get your tickets for “This Home, Forever” happening this weekend? “This Home, Forever” is a stage, a forum, and a dynamic workshop nurtured by a group of artists and activists devoted to and inspired by Los Angeles. Learn more and get your tickets at the link in our bio. 

Held on the rooftop of the historic Bendix Building, performances will be presented with a 180 degree view of downtown Los Angeles. See performances by: @0ll668, @perras.bravas, @lapovertydepartment, @michelelorusso, @pacoimatechno, @jakioeoeo. 

Behind-the-scenes photos by @andreuuua  @selene__preciado and @abwyman
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions