Gemidos de la Tierra: Reflexión with Jackie Amézquita and rafa esparza

Documentation screening short film screening, and conversation
moderated by Juan Silverio, LACE Assistant Director of Programming
Simultaneous interpretation (Eng/Spa) will be available

Join LACE and LAND with Jackie Amézquita and rafa esparza for a reflexión of the weekend-long Gemidos de la Tierra (Wailings of the Land/Soil), presented across Los Angeles over the weekend of March 25–26, 2023. The program will kick off with a short film premiere where attendees can witness the Gemidos caravan’s journey, beginning in DTLA and ending at MacArthur Park. Following the screening will be a conversation between Amézquita and esparza, sharing their experience and thoughts on journeying throughout Los Angeles with 178 immigrants re-embodied through this work. 

The screening and conversation will be paired with a light reception before and after the program. This program will be recorded and made available online at a later date. 

Click here to RSVP.

About the project

Gemidos de la Tierra (Wailings of the Land/Soil) by Jackie Amézquita addresses the cruel and fatal reality of detainment camps that immigrants encounter upon their arrival to the U.S. (List of Deaths in ICE Custody). The names of the deceased are created with soil from the state where the individual died, and combined with cornflour (masa), salt and rain water to symbolize that despite their death these individuals still inhabit a physical space. Gemidos de la Tierra (Wailings of the Land/Soil) becomes a place of healing, memorializing, and encouraging social engagement.

Read Matt Stromberg’s interview with Jackie Amézquita in Hyperallergic, “Remembering the Migrants Who Died in US Detention” by Matt Stromberg 

Jackie Amezquita (b. 1985) is a Central American artist based in Los Angeles, California. Amézquita was born in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, and migrated to the United States in 2003. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from ArtCenter College of Design and an Associate degree in Visual Communications from Los Angeles Valley College. She recently completed her Master of Fine Arts in the New Genres program at the University of California, Los Angeles (2022).
Studio portrait of Jackie Amézquita. Photo: Juan Silverio 

rafa esparza (b. 1981, Los Angeles; lives and works in Los Angeles) received a BA from University of California, Los Angeles in 2011. Solo exhibitions have been held at Artists Space, New York (forthcoming); Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles (2021); MASS MoCA, North Adams (2019); ArtPace San Antonio (2018); and Ballroom Marfa (2017). Selected group exhibitions have been held at Commonwealth and Council, Mexico City (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson (2022); Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston (2020); San Diego Art Institute (2019); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2017); and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016). esparza is a recipient of a Pérez Prize (2022), Latinx Artist Fellowship (2021), Lucas Artist Fellowship (2020), Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (2017), Art Matters Foundation Grant (2014), and California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists (2014). He has participated in residencies at Artpace San Antonio (2018) and Wanlass Artist in Residence, OXY ARTS, Los Angeles (2016).

esparza’s work is in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; San Jose Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Kadist Art Foundation; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and Vincent Price Art Museum, Los Angeles.

About LACE
LACE both champions and challenges the art of our time by fostering artists who innovate, explore, and risk. We move within and beyond our four walls to provide opportunities for diverse publics to engage deeply with contemporary art.  In doing so, we further dialogue and participation between and among artists and those audiences. welcometolace.org 

Support
Gemidos de la Tierra (Wailings of the Land/Soil) is supported by Angeles Art Fund, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Mohn LAND Grant, AltaMed, National Performance Network (NPN), and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. 

LAND’s 2023 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, Abby Pucker, Stacy and John Rubeli, Ben Weyerhaeuser, and the Poncher Family Foundation.

Los Angeles Nomadic Division 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.