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Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples

“Visual arts sizzle with epic installations…” at Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples.

SF Chronicle

Experience “Not-To-Miss Visual Art” for yourself.

KQED

On view now | Great Hall

June 14, 2024—January 26, 2025

Experience intergenerational, feminist, queer, and Xicanx-Indigenous artworks offering ancestral forms of liberation, healing, and being at Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples, only at OMCA.

“Calli,” derived from Nahuatl, signifies the essence of home, family, and lineage. Immerse yourself in thought-provoking original artworks, installations, sculpture, painting, photography, poetry, and more, that showcase and honor the stories of Xicanx peoples across California in this temporary “Xicanx home.” 

Calli layers multiple artistic perspectives, featuring posters from late queer Chicana activist and professor Margaret “Margie” Terrazas Santos’ collection in conversation with contemporary works by Xicanx artists who expand the horizons of possibility, inspiring reflection and fostering dialogue about a world in which we can all belong. The exhibition includes new installations that express healing and solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the world, inclusive to Mexico, Central America, Africa and Palestine.

Discover exhibition highlights by featured artists including:

  • rafa esparza’s adobe Mesoamerican stylized temple installation
  • Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s site-specific Borderline installation conveying U.S.-Mexico border issues such as land commodification, militarization, dehumanization, and its ecological effects
  • Gina Aparicio’s ceramic and earth-based installation with audio composed by musician Joe Galarza, a member of Aztlan Underground
  • Melanie Cervantes’ soft sculpture installation of the Aztec moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui

Want to see it free? Members get unlimited admission to special exhibitions and galleries. Learn more about membership.

Highlights

ARTISTS

Laura Aguilar, Margaret Alarcón, Juana Alicia, Gina Aparicio, Jesus Barraza, Irene Carranza, René Castro, Melanie Cervantes, Yreina D. Cervántez, Enrique Chagoya, Rodolfo O. Cuellar, rafa esparza, Ricardo Favela, Juan R. Fuentes, Peter Gallegos, Maximino Elias Garcia, Rupert García, Sal Garcia, Louie González, Judithe Hernández, Nancy Hom, Carlos Jackson, Consuelo Jiménez-Underwood, Lèo Limón, Carlos Loarca, Alma López, Yolanda López, S. Lowe, Linda Lucero, Ralph Maradiaga, Dalila Paola Méndez, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Felicia ‘Fe’ Montes, Tomás Morales, Cherríe Moraga, Raymundo “Zala” Nevel, Juanishi Orozco, Viviana Paredes, Manuel Paul, Irene Pérez, Michael Ponce, Calixto Robles, Celia H. Rodríguez, Eugene Rodriguez, Patricia Rodriguez, Michael Roman, Rachael Romero, Jos Sances, Herbert Sigüenza, Gino Squadrito, Dewey Tafoya, Reynaldo Terrazas-Santos, Joey Terrill, José Francisco Treviño, John Jairo Valencia, Xavier Viramontes, F. Vuttonet, Brian Wright-McLeod, Andrew Zermeño, Kalli Arte, Tierra y Libertad Press, Butterfly Effect, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice

More

“Everything All at Once” By Consuelo Jiménez-Underwood at OMCA
Felicia ‘Fe’ Montes & Her Traditional Mexican Medicine Practice at OMCA
Jesus Barraza at OMCA
Margaret Terrazas-Santos and the “Calli Americas” Poster Collection at OMCA
rafa esparza at OMCA
Sponsors

Major support for Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples is provided by The Oakland Museum Women’s Board.

Additional thanks to State Senator Nancy Skinner for support of the Calli Americas Political Poster Digitization Project.