Felix Quintana

fantasma paraiso / phantom paradise


February March 2024

A Multi-Site Ephemeral Portrait of Los Angeles

On view from February 2024 – March 2024

Plaza Mexico

3100 E. Imperial Hwy
Lynwood, CA 90262

Plaza Mexico, a popular destination in Lynwood, will feature several large scale print works, a digital billboard above the 105 Freeway, and floor decals throughout the site. Plaza Mexico is significant to the artist as a community hub of his hometown. Before installing the work, Quintana held a workshop where he met with community members from the area and invited them to contribute to the archival prints that appear on site.

Art Division

2418 W. 6th St. 
Los Angeles, CA 90057

Opening Celebration on February 24th, 2024

Quintana also installed a wall mural at Art Division, a non-profit organization dedicated to training and supporting under-served youth who are committed to studying the visual arts. Art Division is based in Westlake/MacArthur Park, the neighborhood that the artist currently calls home. Quintana hosted a conversation with local students to encourage community representation and participation in the process. Quintana will also lead a cyanotype-workshop at Art Division at a later date.

About the Exhibition

fantasma paraiso / phantom paradise  is a multisite exhibition by artist Felix Quintana commissioned and presented by public art nonprofit Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND). From February – March 2024, Quintana’s mixed-media works will form an ephemeral portrait of Los Angeles by placing his signature portrait and landscape photography directly in the locations that they represent. His billboards, wheatpaste posters, vinyl banners, and signs uplift the beauty of the day-to-day routines and the emblems of diasporic communities of Los Angeles. Quintana encourages a slowing-down and flattening of the past and present through his unique cyanotype style of combining photography, print-making, collage and mixed-media.

fantasma paraiso, inspired by and named after a mixtape left behind by Quintana’s late father, will populate the city with familiar details like awnings, store windows, teenagers on bikes, donut trails in an empty parking lot, as well as images pulled from Quintana’s own family archives. Understanding that his own subjective perspective is just part of a larger chronicle, Felix has held public portrait sessions, and invited public contributions of personal images and archives to create these images. Quintana also embraces source material and inspiration from Google Street View, Swap Meets, and handmade signage.

Quintana chose to focus on collaborating with locations that are deeply personal, and also point to the disappearing histories of the city’s immigrant families and businesses in Southeast, Central, and East Los Angeles. The result is a witnessing of Quintana’s communities, and their simultaneous enduring stories of migration, and continuance. The first two installations will take place at Plaza Mexico in Lynwood and the headquarters of art education nonprofit Art Division in Westlake, with more to be unveiled this winter.

Events

All are invited to join us for an opening reception on Saturday, February 24 from 5-7pm at Art Division, 2418 W 6th Street Los Angeles, CA 90057. 

Gratitude/Acknowledgements

LAND and the artist would like to thank Irina Gusin (producer), Arantza Pelayo & Sterling Organization (Plaza Mexico), Dan McCleary and Luis Hernandez (Art Division), Raven Sanchez (Project Assistant), Carlos Diaz (Print Co Direct),  Rey Sepulveda and Jimmy Saldivar (Cultivarte Studios).

fantasma paraiso is supported by the Mohn LAND Grant.

The Mohn LAND Grant is funded through the generosity of Jarl and Pamela Mohn. Over a five year cycle (2022-2027), this initiative directly invests in emerging Los Angeles based artists, providing them with a platform to present site-responsive, transdisciplinary work across LA County. Support through this program is awarded annually to a cohort of emerging artists, giving them their first opportunity to present a large-scale commissioned public project.

LAND’s 2024 exhibitions are made possible with lead support from the Offield Family Foundation, the Jerry and Terri Kohl Family Foundation, and The Perenchio Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Fran and Ray Stark Foundation, the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture, the LA Arts Recovery Fund, Brenda Potter, the Wilhelm Family Foundation and LAND’s Nomadic Council. Special thanks to Artist Sponsors Karen Hillenburg, Liana Krupp, Stacy and John Rubeli, Ben Weyerhaeuser, and the Poncher Family Foundation. LAND is a member of and supported by the Los Angeles Visual Arts (LAVA) Coalition.

LAND is a member-supported organization. Support LAND’s free, public programming by becoming a member today at nomadicdivision.org.

Selected press