Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory

Amalia Mesa-Bains is a pioneering feminist and Latinx artist who has explored the experiences, spiritual practices, and histories of Mexican American women. Her art creates sacred spaces imbued with cultural memory, leading viewers on a magical journey of discovery. The Archaeology of Memory is the exhibition catalog accompanying the first major retrospective of her work, featuring an essay by the artist and an interview with her.

Format: Hardback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 24 January 2023
Publisher: University of California Press

Amalia Mesa-Bains is a groundbreaking feminist and Latinx artist who has made significant contributions to Chicanx/Latinx art and feminism. Her pioneering altar installations have earned her widespread recognition and acclaim. Throughout her forty-year career as an artist, activist, educator, and scholar, Mesa-Bains has delved into the experiences, spiritual practices, and histories of Mexican American women, while also addressing the colonial erasure and recovery of Mexican, African American, and Indigenous Californians. Her art, often referred to as archaeological practice, creates sacred spaces that are imbued with cultural memory, leading viewers on a magical journey of discovery through what might otherwise be lost to existing canons of history.

The exhibition catalog accompanying the first major retrospective of Mesa-Bains' work, titled Amalia Mesa-Bains: The Archaeology of Memory, brings together her installations from the 1970s to the present for the first time. The book features an essay by the artist and an interview with her, as well as contributions from top-tier scholars who explore ecofeminism, migrant histories, spirituality, and politics of erasure that ground her interdisciplinary practice. As a whole, the book cements Mesa-Bains' place as a trailblazing artist within the history of art.

Published in association with the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, the exhibition will be on display at various museums and cultural institutions throughout the United States and Canada. The exhibition dates are as follows:

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive: February 4-August 13, 2023
Phoenix Art Museum: November 2023-March 2024
El Museo del Barrio, New York City: April 2024-August 2024
San Antonio Art Museum: October 2024-January 2025
Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Arts and Culture, Riverside, CA: March 2025-August 2025

Amalia Mesa-Bains' work is a testament to her dedication to exploring the complexities of identity, culture, and history, and her contributions to Chicanx/Latinx art and feminism continue to inspire and resonate with audiences around the world.

Weight: 1250g
Dimension: 236 x 294 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520395718