Hi! Welcome to Instruments of Memory. I’m Claudia Pretelin. I’m a Mexican art historian, independent curator, and arts administrator based in Los Angeles, California. This site is my long-term art history documentation project. It has evolved with time and I find myself now focusing on promoting the work of women in the arts through in-depth conversations, exhibitions, and programming with different community partners. You can learn more about me here.
Thanks for visiting!
UPCOMING EVENTS
See you in Querétaro, México in 2024!
Con el apoyo del Centro Queretano de la Imagen, la exposición Memorias y Resistencias: Mujeres | Artistas | Historias Afrolatinas y Caribeñas se presentará en la ciudad de Querétaro, México del 5 de septiembre al 5 de noviembre de 2024. El equipo curatorial conformado por Claudia Mandel Katz (Argentina-Costa Rica), Claudia Pretelin (México-Estados Unidos) y Sussy Vargas (Costa Rica) agradecen a las artistas de esta exposición por su apoyo desde un inicio y el trabajo producido, el cual reflexiona sobre las diferentes comunidades afrolatinas enfatizando la importancia de comprender el legado de estas comunidades en nuestro continente.
With the support of the Centro Queretano de la Imagen, the exhibition Memorias y Resistencias: Mujeres | Artistas | Historias Afrolatinas y Caribeñas will be presented in Querétaro, Mexico, from September 5 to November 5, 2024. The curatorial team Claudia Mandel Katz (Argentina-Costa Rica), Claudia Pretelin (Mexico-United States), and Sussy Vargas (Costa Rica) is honored to present the work of artists from Latin America in this exhibition that examines the different Afro-Latin communities, emphasizing the importance of understanding the legacy of these communities on our continent.
PAST EVENTS
Instruments of Memory visited Costa Rica
El equipo curatorial de la exposición Memorias y Resistencias: Mujeres | Artistas | Historias Afrolatinas y Caribeñas, así como las artistas Luisa Nieves Rodón y Marcela Bertozzi participaron el lunes 16 de octubre de 2023 en el VII Coloquio Internacional Repensar América Latina: Inter(acciones) entre migración, identidad y cultura, en la Universidad de Costa Rica. Con un panel titulado “Estéticas feministas decoloniales: narrativas afrolatinas y caribeñas visuales contemporáneas” moderado por la artista visual Sussy Vargas Alvarado, este panel reunió algunas de las investigaciones que forman parte de la exposición en línea antes mencionada.
The curatorial team of the exhibition Memorias y Resistencias: Mujeres | Artistas | Historias Afrolatinas y Caribeñas, as well as the artists Luisa Nieves Rodón and Marcela Bertozzi, participated on Monday, October 16, 2023, in the VII International Colloquium Rethinking Latin America: Inter(actions) between migration, identity, and culture, at the University of Costa Rica. With a panel titled “Decolonial Feminist Aesthetics: Contemporary Afro-Latina and Caribbean Visual Narratives,” moderated by visual artist Sussy Vargas Alvarado, this panel brought together some of the research in the aforementioned online exhibition.
INTERVIEWS
“I have always had strong women mentors – from my mother and sisters to teachers, and have spent most of my professional life in women-led organizations.” – Holly Jerger
Don’t miss this conversation between artist and curator Holly Jerger and art historian Claudia Pretelin.
Holly Jerger (she/her) was just appointed Art Galleries Director at California State University, Northridge. Previously, she was Senior Exhibitions Curator at Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles where she organized numerous exhibitions including solo presentations of Lezley Saar, Kay Sekimachi, Gronk, and Diedrick Brackens, as well as the surveys: Wayfinding, The Body, The Object, The Other and Chapters: Book Arts in Southern California. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ball State University, Indiana, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she also taught. Holly has also served on the boards of the Museum Educators of Southern California and the Los Angeles Printmaking Society.
READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE
EXHIBITIONS
EXPOSICIÓN EN LÍNEA | ONLINE EXHIBITION CONTINUES!
Instruments of Memory en alianza con el Museo de las Mujeres de Costa Rica presenta MEMORIAS Y RESISTENCIAS: MUJERES | ARTISTAS| HISTORIAS AFROLATINAS Y CARIBEÑAS una muestra colectiva con más de diez artistas emergentes y otras de amplia trayectoria que examinan historias visuales de mujeres de la diáspora africana y afrodescendientes en América Latina. Con curaduría a cargo de Claudia Mandel Katz (Argentina-Costa Rica), Adriana Palomo (Argentina), Claudia Pretelin (México-Estados Unidos) y Sussy Vargas (Costa Rica) esta exposición busca reflexionar sobre las diferentes comunidades afrolatinas enfatizando la importancia de comprender el legado de estas comunidades en nuestro continente.
Da click AQUÍ para acceder a la galería
Instruments of Memory, in partnership with The Women’s Museum of Costa Rica, presents an online exhibition featuring the work of emerging and established artists who examine visual stories of the African diaspora and Afro-descendants in Latin America. Curated by Claudia Mandel Katz (Argentina-Costa Rica), Adriana Palomo (Argentina), Claudia Pretelin (Mexico-USA), and Sussy Vargas (Costa Rica ) this exhibition seeks to reflect upon the different Afro-Latin communities emphasizing the importance of understanding the legacy of these diverse black communities in our continent.
Click HERE to access the online gallery!
NEW INTERVIEWS
Cecilia Vázquez’s work feeds off situations stemming from the still life and the landscape, and from the invention of elements that encourage the remembrance of something remotely familiar. Be it in painting, drawing, or three-dimensional pieces, Vázquez maneuvers in the interstice of figurative and abstract syntaxes to revalue the image as a territory loaded with subjective possibilities in terms of imagination, and its potential for the articulation of new metaphorical meanings.
Cecilia Vásquez (Image courtesy of the artist)
Stay tuned!
Read more…
