San Antonio Museum of Art

Thank you to Deborah Martin and the San Antonio Express-News for featuring our Día de los Muertos ofrenda, designed by Amalia Mesa-Bains in honor of Emma Tenayuca. https://lnkd.in/gR3XZQAB

The San Antonio Museum of Art unveils an ofrenda honoring local labor hero Emma Tenayuca by artist Amalia Mesa-Bains on Tuesday.

Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday that honors the rich cultures, histories, and contributions of Indigenous peoples. To celebrate, we’re highlighting “Amnía (Echo)” a multi-media work from SAMA’s permanent collection by acclaimed artist Wendy Red Star. The inspiration for “Amnía (Echo)” is an archival photograph Wendy Red Star discovered at the National Museum of the American Indian of her paternal great-great-grandmother, Her Dreams Are True. The picture was taken on the Crow Reservation in Montana circa 1898–1910 and recreated over a century later in the artist’s studio by Red Star and her daughter Beatrice. The portraits call attention to the Indigenous roots of feminism, a recurrent theme in Red Star’s practice, demonstrating the matrilineal structure of traditional Apsáalooke society. The successive imagery, reminiscent of DNA replication, calls into question the usage of blood quantum laws to determine tribal enrollment and legitimize Native American identity (an issue that affects the artist’s daughter). This tripart family portrait firmly establishes the three women’s presence and Crow lineage. — Currently not on view. Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke (Crow), born 1981), “Amnía (Echo),” 2021, Archival pigment prints on board, custom pedestals 66 1/2 × 98 1/4 × 19 in. (168.9 × 249.6 × 48.3 cm), Pedestals: 42 5/8 × 32 7/8 × 18 1/2 in. (108.3 × 83.5 × 47 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with The Brown Foundation Contemporary Art Acquisition Fund, 2022.7.a-c, © Wendy Red Star. Photography by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of Sargent’s Daughters, New York, New York

Join Classical Music Institute’s Chamber Connexions on Friday, October 4 at the San Antonio Museum of Art for a concert inspired by the themes in Amalia Mesa-Bains’s “Archaeology of Memory.” This program will showcase exceptional musicians from across the country, performing works by renowned composers such as Gabriela Lena Frank, Juan Pablo Contreras, and Robert Schumann. Your ticket includes entry to the special exhibition "Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory," light bites, and one complimentary drink. Purchase your tickets today: https://lnkd.in/gaA_JG9J

On view now: “Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory” “Archaeology of Memory” is the first major retrospective to explore the historically significant work and career of Amalia Mesa-Bains. The exhibition features forty works created by the Chicana artist between 1991 and 2024 in a range of media, including altar-installations, codices, and prints, and featuring a new large-scale sculpture on view for the first time in SAMA's presentation. On view through January 12, 2025. Purchase your tickets: https://lnkd.in/gk6X4e2t _ Installation view of Amalia Mesa-Bains, ‘The Virgin’s Garden’ from ‘Venus Envy Chapter II: The Harem and Other Enclosures,’ 1994/2022. Mirrors, moss, hand-painted armoire, handmade book with painted images, clothing, found objects, and capes by Christiane Parker.

Mark your calendar! In Dialogue: Art and Environment with James Prosek and Kelly Lyons Friday, September 27 | 6:00–7:00 p.m. Join us for a discussion of the intersection between art and ecology with artist James Prosek and Dr. Kelly Lyons, Professor of Biology at Trinity University. In partnership with The Nature Conservancy in Texas, and in celebration of TNC’s milestone of one million acres protected in Texas, SAMA will host Prosek and Lyons for a thought-provoking conversation moderated by Chet Garner, creator and host of the celebrated Texas travel program "The Daytripper." Register: https://lnkd.in/gu6DVxK7 James Prosek, "Downy Paintbrush, Texas Bluebonnet, and Black Spine Prickly Pear, Ozona and Marfa, Texas (Specific Objects No. 2)," March 2023, Graphite, watercolor, and gouache on paper,11 3⁄4 × 23 in. Image courtesy of the artist © James Prosek

Upcoming Artist Talk 💬 In Dialogue: Archaeology of Memory with Amalia Mesa-Bains and Tomás Ybarra-Frausto 🗓️ Friday, September 20 | 6:00–7:00 p.m. Artist Amalia Mesa-Bains, PhD, and independent scholar of Latina/o arts and culture Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, PhD, will explore the themes in Mesa-Bains’ work and place it within the broader context of contemporary and Chicano art movements. Register: https://lnkd.in/gXGSRupT

Today is #NationalDogDay! 🐕 Next time you visit the Museum, try to spot these dogs throughout the galleries. — “Bowl,” Puente del Arzobispo, Spain, Europe, 18th century, Earthenware with tin glaze; copper, cobalt, and iron in-glaze decoration, height: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm), diameter: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. Ric Bradford, Houston, Texas, 2012.34. “Dog,” Chinese, Han Dynasty, 206 B.C. – 220 A.D., Earthenware with pigments, height: 20 7/8 in. (53 cm), width: 18 1/2 in. (47 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, Gift of Faye Langley Cowden, 92.14.8. “Jicara Bowl,” Mexico, ca. 1960, Lacquered and carved jicara (calabash), San Antonio Museum of Art, The Robert K. Winn Collection, 85.1.683. “Seated Dog,” Veracruz, Pre-Columbian, ca. A.D. 550-950, Earthenware with black tar pitch, h. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm); l. 12 in. (30.5 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, The D. Joseph Judge, M.D. Collection donated by the Judge Family, 2001.38.4. Asher Brown Durand, “Haystack Mountain, Vermont” (detail), 1852, American, 1796–1886, Oil on canvas, 30 1/4 × 42 1/4 in. (76.8 × 107.3 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, given in memory of Mrs. Henry Drought, by exchange, 86.57.2. “Dog Motif Stirrups,” Cochamba, Bolivia, South America, late 19th century, Wood and iron, h. 7 in. (17.8 cm); w. 5 in. (12.7 cm); d. 9 in. (22.9 cm), each, San Antonio Museum of Art, Gift of Peter P. Cecere, 2000.31.7.a-b. “Dog Mask,” Ecuador, South America, ca. 1978, Painted wood, San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by the Friends of Folk Art and Folk Art Acquisition Funds, 90.44.

This fall, SAMA will present the first retrospective exhibition of the influential Chicana artist and cultural critic Amalia Mesa-Bains, who pioneered the genre of altar-installations. Presenting work created between 1991 and 2024, “Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory” features over forty works in a wide range of media and celebrates Mesa-Bains’s important contributions to the field of contemporary art.   On view September 20, 2024–January 12, 2025. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gk6X4e2t   — Amalia Mesa-Bains: “Queen of the Waters, Mother of the Land of the Dead: Homenaje a Tonatzin/Guadalupe” (detail), 1992; mixed mediainstallation including fabric drape, six jeweled clocks, mirrorpedestals with grottos, nicho box, found objects, dried flowers, dried pomegranate, potpourri; 120 x 216 x 72 in.; courtesy of the artist and Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco Amalia Mesa-Bains: “Queen of the Waters, Mother of the Land of the Dead: Homenaje a Tonantzin/Guadalupe,” 1992. Photo: Daria Lugina.  #sanantoniomuseumofart #sanantoniotx #amaliamesabains #archeologyofmemory

These towering figures appear like richly textured stone monuments rendered with abstracted forms and bold outlines. Standing side-by-side, the figures nearly merge as their gazes and hands meet. Austin-based artist Luis Gutierrez grew up in Mexico City and draws from precolonial Mesoamerican symbolism as well as Chicano culture in his artwork. This work is on view until Sunday, October 20, in Round II of “Lovers & Fighters: Prints by Latino Artists in the SAMA Collection.” — Luis R. Gutierrez, “Untitled,” 1994, American, born Mexico, 1951, Screen print, Gift of Ricardo and Harriet Romo, 2011.1.2.9, © Luis R. Gutiérrez