Carmen Argote, “If it were only that easy…” (2018), Moto Guzzi V11 motorcycle in Guadalajara, in the artist’s father’s house (image courtesy the artist)
Born in Mexico but raised in Los Angeles, Carmen Argote explores her boundary-traversing identity in her sculptural installations and architectural interventions. As part of the REDCAT-organized PST: LA/LA performance festival, Argote will be staging a motorcycle performance in Griffith Park, beginning her 18th Street Arts Center residency that will culminate in a road trip.
To help fulfill her psychological and physical journey, Argote has enlisted a crew of motorcycle-riding artists and collaborators including Alexandra Grant, Bill Kelley Jr., and Anuradha Vikram. In a Griffith Park parking lot, she will assemble a course based on the overlapping floor plans of her Pico-Union childhood home and her father’s house in Guadalajara, on which they will stage a choreographed rally, using microphones in their helmets to tell their own stories about domesticity and the freedom of the road. After training with these collaborators, Argote plans to end her residency by reversing the journey her father took 20 years ago when he left LA to start a new life in Mexico, riding the same Moto Guzzi California V11 EV motorcycle back from Guadalajara to LA.
When: Saturday, January 20, 1–3pm
Where: Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round Lot 2 (approx. 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Griffith Park, Los Angeles)
More info here.
