Alida Cervantes
El desastre que dejaste
September 11 - October 23, 2021
El desastre que dejaste (The disaster you left) was an exhibition of large scale paintings by Tijuana-based artist Alida Cervantes, made in 2019. Cervantes considers this period both experimental and transitional, a crucial bridge to the work she previously produced and the paintings she is making today. During this period, Cervantes pushed her use of color and pursued a more carefree approach to applying paint. While these paintings align thematically with her broader studio practice - depicting figures in interpersonal or intrapersonal conflict that might be extended to the political - they diverge in their source material. Rather than modeling these works on historical paintings, Cervantes constructs these works from informal sketches inspired by Mexican history, folk art, and culture.
Alida Cervantes is a Mexican artist who lives and works in the Tijuana and San Diego border region. Traveling daily between the US / Mexico border, Cervantes makes work characterized by an interest in power relations between race, class, gender, and even species. She explores these hierarchies both at the level of sexual or intimate relationships and on the broad stages of history and politics.
Cervantes earned a BA from UC San Diego, then studied at Florence’s Scuola di Arte Lorenzo de’ Medici. She earned her MFA from the University of California, San Diego. Her work is included in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, the Charles Saatchi Collection, London, and the Jorge Perez permanent collection, among others.
