Lady Base Gallery, a group created in 2013 to support local women and LGBT artists, unveils a new show on January 19 at the city-owned Plaza de Armas Gallery.
The show, which is curated by gallerist, artist and Lady Base founder Sarah Castillo, features the work of Kim Bishop, Anel I. Flores, Suzy Gonzalez, Julia Barbosa Landois and Antonia Padilla.
Lady Base’s show is part of a larger exhibition, United We Are One, which is being hosted by the City of San Antonio and scheduled to open during Dream Week. The other section of the exhibition is being curated by the San Antonio Ethnic Arts Society.
Sarah Castillo (Photo by Antonia Padilla)
In an email to Out In SA, Castillo discussed some of her thoughts in preparing for the exhibit. “Through art, we can spark a dialogue to reach a new understanding of the world around us,” she said. “With recent developments in our government and social spheres that will affect women across the country, we look at how artists confront these daily challenges and how they also work to captivate the solidarity within the community. Through photography, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, and painting, these five artists articulate their message.”
Castillo offered the following capsules about the artists in the show.
Kim Bishop (Photo via Facebook)
Kim Bishop
“For Bishop, questioning the repercussions of patriarchy in the home and in the workplace entails challenging the ways in which we determine what is feminist practice; as she attests that the value of a woman’s work is just as strong as a man’s.”
Anel I. Flores (left) and her wife Erika Casasola (Photo by Antonia Padilla)
Anel I. Flores
“For Flores, art making and writing illuminates the tragedies of the self, community, and our ancestors. As a form of agency, the intention of preserving and sharing personal stories asserts a space for empowerment that can enhance the quality of life for those who suffer in silence and this contribution to our community can promote healing and personal paths of resistance.”
Suzy Gonzalez (Photo via Facebook)
Suzy Gonzalez
“For Gonzalez, objectification and consumption affects women’s rights, animal rights, and ethnic dignity. Specifically, she challenges the hierarchy of folk art and contemporary art through the hybridization of human and object and through the decolonization of our diet.”
Julia Barbosa Landois (Photo by Ramin Samandari for the San Antonio Current)
Julia Barbosa Landois
“For Barbosa Landois, political participation is a necessity in the fight for justice and equality. She distinguishes the role of mother in a misogynist culture by upholding the responsibility of teaching children the importance of voting.”
Antonia Padilla (Photo via Facebook)
Antonia Padilla
“For Padilla, documenting the San Antonio International Women’s Day March asserts the solidarity that arises from bridging generations of communities and knowledge. These images represent a sisterhood of strength, love, and the human spirit.”
“Through a socially engaged framework, art brings attention to many important issues in our community such as gendered hierarchies, transgender justice, ecofeminism, reproductive rights, cultural discrimination, immigration reform, sexual violence, and economic injustice,” says Castillo.
“This is a discourse for healing and understanding; an act of cultivating a sense of unity through our differences. The personal is political and through art these voices move these issues to the forefront; offering the opportunity to engage in a conversation that can lead to liberation,” Castillo adds.
Lady Base Gallery, United We Are One, January 19 to March 31 at Plaza de Armas Gallery, 115 Plaza de Armas. Opening night: January 19 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Light snacks and refreshments. For more information about the show and related events, go to the Get Creative San Antonio website.
