Esperanza Concreta | Concrete Hope

Barrett Gallery - Santa Monica College 

Exhibition on View
September 23, 2025 - May 09, 2026

Exhibition Opening
October 14, 2025, 5-8 PM
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The works that collide within Concrete Hope speak to the intricacies and complexities of belonging to a community of individuals united aesthetically by culture, transcending national boundaries. Concrete Hope features equal parts piñatas, abuelitas, cholos, tatuajes, virgencitas, mercados, rosarios, metates, petates, buganvilias, escapularios, veladoras, primas, primos, letreros, gente de nuestra comunidad, gallos, emblemas nacionales, ventanales, ladrillos, sobadores, pirámides, manteles, familia, y fotografías. 

Concrete Hope’s aesthetic axis is the celebration of all things Brown, Mexican-American, Nepantlera, Mestiza, Indigenous, Chicanx, Mexican-Irish, Afro-Mexicana, Chicano, Latine, Undocumented, Oaxaqueñe, Yaqui, Migrant, Guatemalan-Mexican, Salvadoran, Mexipino (Mexican-Filipino), Chapin, Immigrant, Undoc+, and Jaxican (Japanese-Mexican), et. al., which stands as a reflection of self-affirmation of the lived experiences of the complex brown community in Southern California. 

Concrete Hope brings together thirty-eight emergent photographers and lens-based artists from Southern California who explore an assortment of installation media as materiality for the photographic depictions.

Curated by Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil.

This exhibition is part of the FotoSoCal constellation of exhibitions.
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TOPOGRAPHIX, Latinx Photographers and the Sub/urban Landscape

Cypress  College Art Gallery

Exhibition on View
Friday, January 30 – Thursday, February 19

Reception:
​Thursday, February 12, 6 - 8PM
 
More than a backdrop, "place" is a character that shapes and reflects the identities of its inhabitants. Topographic presents photography by Latinx artists who engage their environments, transform lands into language, and locate memory and history in places that remain alive with possibility. Curated by Aydinaneth Ortiz and Janet Owen Driggs, Topographix is part of Foto SoCal.