Episode 1.6
Interview with Blanka Amezkua, by Stephanie García on May 18th, 2020
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Stephanie (S): Our guest today is Blanka Amezkua. Trained as a painter; She has studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy and a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fresno. Her work and projects have been shown in the United States, Mexico, Belgium, and Greece, in spaces such as: MoMA-PS1, Exit Art, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, El Museo del Barrio, Queens Museum of Art, Towson University, Dorsky Gallery, The Taller Boricua, The Block Gallery, among others. She received the BRIO Award from the Bronx Council on the Arts in 2007 for the Bronx Blue Bedroom Project (BBBP). In Athens, she created Fo Kia Nou 24/7 in 2014, which became Fokianou Art Space in 2016, which today is run by Athenian artists. On her return to New York, instead of replicating BBBP, she decided to create Alexander Avenue Apartment 3A (AAA3A), which invites people to step in and create actions in their living room. Mentions of her work and projects are included in ARTnews, New York Times, TimeOut, Daily News, Art21: blog, Athinorama, Athens News, Queens Chronicle, International Museum of Women, WNYC, as well as other publications.
S: Welcome Blanka to “Aquí&Allá: conversations with contemporary creators and artists from Mexico and the United States!” We hope you are well, we are very happy that you accepted this invitation. We have just given a short introduction of who you are, but we want to ask you. Who is Blanka, in her own words? And where are you from?
Blanka (B): Ahhh, how are you? Thank you very much for the invitation to be here with you! Well, my parents, Héctor Amezcua and Bertha Hurtado, are originally from the state of Michoacán, and as soon as they got married they went to live in Mexico City. That was where I was born and lived there for a few years, like two or three, and at the age of four, my entire family emigrated to the United States. That’s why I like to say that I grew up between California and Cuernavaca. And as a result of this migration, I feel like a purely bicultural visual artist.
S: As a visual artist, exactly what do you do and why do you do it?
B: Ehh, well… man, as a visual artist, uh, I believe that one is condemned to see and feel the world with a certain sensitivity, and this requires me to do very different things from other members of my family, right? I decided to dedicate myself to art, and this implies, therefore, living a life where I am constantly questioning my environment, this, life, the social, the political, and the cultural. And I, when… I feel that when one is born with that sensitivity, the world is presented as a film where I can intervene, if I so wish, in some way or not, but I do not feel the obligation to commit myself and follow the straight social codes, right? In other words, those conditions that society often demands, ehhh, or require us from human beings. Well, I do things a little differently, because I have that sensitivity.
S: Now, that is a kind of commitment, let’s say, right? As an ethical being, let’s say?
B: Yes.
S: Yeah, aww, and how does this path get to art? How do you find yourself with art? How do you decide, perhaps more as an adult, that you go to the University of California, that we know that you are a graduate from there? But how do you decide that art is going to be your way of life, your choice? How do you get there?
B: My god, I feel that I came to the art world thanks to all the women in my family, and for the food that only they know how to prepare. Really! I come from a large family that, as I told you, have origins from Michoacán and this, the truth that they cooked in such a particular and tasty way, all, especially my mother. She really is a magician in the kitchen. So, it was a delight to see, or is (a delight), to see how it takes all the ingredients and transforms them into these delicious delicacies, ehh, but from the simplest things to the most elaborate. So, from there I learned to try everything too. In my family they are not picky when it comes to food. So I feel that… and I say that I came to the art world by food because it was there that I learned and saw, that it was a process; how to start something with raw material and see how it develops, and see how it ends. So, I really feel that having been exposed to that, day-by-day as this, led me, right, to eventually give continuity to a process and how to create something, from start to finish.
S: Right… how interesting is this about the term “process”, because just speaking of processes, we would like to ask you… well, we know you are, I don’t know, I read your profile and you are a visual artist, but I think there is an inclination like multidisciplinarity in a certain sense…
B: Uh-huh
S: …Or to meet, I don’t know if from different artistic disciplines, but with other needs. In this sense, we want to ask you, how are your creative processes? Because also, if we compare, for example, performing artists with visual artists or writers, the processes, the difference of those processes is that you do it to moments much more individually, right? In other words, you can create on your own and stage art in general requires more community. But you are an artist that is based on collective work. So, I don’t know if you could tell us a little more about that, and if addressing the how… that is, when you do an individual process, let’s say, or when you do a more collaborative project, what do those processes imply when you develop them?
B: I think that my work is also based a lot, or is inspired and… I work with Mexican artisans, if required… always, as always, my process does require me to collaborate with other people. For example, I have training in painting but, for about 15 years I was embroidering, and there my mother collaborated with me because I do not know how to knit, so I would embroider these paintings, these blankets that eventually became like napkins for tortillas, but larger, and she wove the edges. I become very obsessed with techniques when I learn something, and weaving is something that I somehow refuse to learn, because I feel that if I learn it, I will want to do everything, everything, that is, I will want to make my clothes woven, knit everything. So, I was collaborating with my mom. So, that was the first time that I started to collaborate, so I followed up on that, if I collaborate with artisans, this, that the work is more enriched the more people collaborate with the work, because it enriches, right? Dialogue as Visual. Well, I have the opportunity to meet other people. And that seems fabulous to me.
S: How wonderful! I have to ask you, hearing that now, about… How do you… That is. You were born here in Mexico. That’s what you said, right? An artist who forges her identity between Cuernavaca and the United States. I would like to ask you, in that sense, how… if at some point did you have some kind of… not an identity crisis but to define, you know, this cultural profile between two nations that, in addition, there are things that can be very convergent but also many others that can be very divergent, if at some point there was that doubt and that difficulty, and if there is this continuing need to search, you know? As in your roots, to search to continue as forging that identity. Not to leave it? Or is it impossible to leave it? Because I also hear that you have a very deep relationship with your mother and with these women that made Blanka, this artist and this human being. So, was it a conflict, at any time, the identity of this, of these two cultural contexts that are in a certain sense, different?
B: Ehh, see, that is not so much conflict for me. But I feel that it is a conflict for people who try to understand who I am, right? Like me, how can I tell you? In other words, I am Mexican. I was born in Mexico but grew up in Los Angeles. But when I say that, “I grew up in Los Angeles,” for me, being in Los Angeles is being in Mexico. I was not surrounded by the Anglo-Saxon community. I was surrounded by all the people who came from Michoacán, right? From the town where my parents came from. When I go to Los Charcos, Michoacán, I identify all the codes, that I know them, because I learned them in Los Angeles. I mean, all the people you know who are there, ehhh, have relatives in California. So, my connection really, in spite of having grown up in the US… Also, I went to a primary school at that time, in the 70’s, was bilingual because sometimes it has already been lost, that is, educational systems also change a lot in this way. But at that time I was bilingual. So, as a girl I learned to write in Spanish and write in English simultaneously, right? So this, no, notice that the conflict is not so much for me. But I feel that when people try to fit in and say, “But let’s see, well, then did you live there and did you live here? How is the situation?” I am, I tell you, I feel that I have a very strong attachment to, especially Michoacán. But ehhh, and well, I also feel very American, because I grew up from a very young age in this country, right? There are things that are definitely part of me because that is the environment in which I grew up.
S: After Los Angeles, at what point did you decide, “ok, am I going to study at a school, or a university, art?” And then, you know that you are moving to New York.
B: That’s right.
S: Then why are you going there? What does this change imply? And if you can tell us a bit, what do you do and develop in New York? And, I know this is very long, but, I know that later, you go to Athens…
B: Uh-huh.
S: And then also, how does this change take place? That is, as a short tour about this migratory journey that you have made as an artist and as a person, of course.
B: The decision to study art was because I am terrible at mathematics and when I entered university, it was necessary, that is, I had to decide that it was something in the humanities or visually. But I knew that all the sciences were not going to be possible for me, simply because of the fact that I am terrible at mathematics. So, I changed my major twice. Here you have the possibility of, one can be in the second or third year of ‘uni’ and you can change your degree if you want. Then, I decided definitely that I was not going to do it, if I continued in any other bachelor’s degree that involved more math back then. So I decided to study art. This is how I started. Then I went to study, I studied part of high school in California, in a small town called Coalinga, and Coalinga is not far from another, a little bit bigger town, called Fresno, and there It was where it was, I studied three years of university, because one year I also studied at the University of Buffalo. The United States Educational System, has an exchange between universities nationwide. This, the first year of university I met a boy who came from New York, and since we were so in love, I decided to follow him and that was what brought me to New York for the first time in the ’90s. And that’s how I first came to New York. But then I went back, then I went back to finish University in Fresno. And since I finished University in Fresno, I decided that I was moving to San Francisco because well after having been in New York and returning to Fresno, Fresno became very small. And I decided to move to San Francisco. And there I was for some time too.
S: I want to ask you in comparison, because San Francisco, New York are very competitive cities at a level… at all levels, but at an artistic level…
B: Yes, yes.
S: … represents a great challenge. How did you experience it, starting in San Francisco?
B: I think that, since I immediately went to San Francisco when I graduated from Fresno, I arrived at a very, very different time. That is, San Francisco was, it is not what San Francisco is now. But I was also 22, 23 years old, I didn’t arrive as, well, “I’m a visual artist and now I’m going to be like this exhibiting artist and only dedicating myself to my work.” I had to have different jobs, right? I worked in a bakery, that, I got up as early as four in the morning. I had to get to this place at five-something. I did that for almost a year. And then this, another job came up, working in a law firm, where I was in the firm’s library and there if I had a good time, then I was not dedicating myself clearly to my artwork, I really feel that, if I worked a little but not as much as when I finally made the decision to I went to New York, because I met a person, my husband, who is originally from Greece, and his parents lived on that side of the country, and a family question arose where the opportunity to come to New York arose, and well, we discussed it and decided to make that transition in 2003.
S: Ok. And when you arrived in New York, how did the artistic possibilities unfold for you and how did you develop them?
B: Yes, then as I was saying, in San Francisco I feel it was more like a little taste of seeing what the art world was at that level, which was very enriching, it was more than anything because, as I was younger, right? It was, it was a lot of parting. That is, I’m going to be honest with you, I was in my ‘twenties’, the vision was something else. There was a lot of Mexican community. That is, that’s really where I ‘got soaked’ in what it was to be in a diverse environment, and also it was the time when we really, like we were very eager to know what everyone was doing, right? So, we were going to concerts, that is, the museums, the concerts, the music that came from Africa, all this ‘Worldbeat’ movement in the 90’s that was very tasty for everyone. I feel that if it opened our vision, right? From… wanting to try food, wanting to visit countries, wanting to know a little more about other cultures. And for me, that was San Francisco at that time. When I came to New York, New York, it’s another monster, right? I mean, honestly, when I came to New York for the first time in the 90’s, I mean, I didn’t come to New York City, I came to the city of Buffalo, which is on the border of Canada, that is, I was in the middle of nowhere there. My boyfriend at that time, the family was from Long Island, so all the breaks we had, the holidays well, we came to Long Island and we went through NY. But when I came back in 2003, it had already been after two thousand… Of the Towers no? This happened…
S: Sure.
B: I mean, there was another very different environment, and I felt it immediately. It was like well, obviously people were very subdued, but the rhythm of the city is maintained, that is, at that time 2013 was… still, it is a rhythm that invariably forces you to put in your batteries, you get to a place in where everyone is doing something, everyone has a project, nobody is birding, right? Everyone is looking at the possibility of how to insert themselves into the system, where you want to fit in, and the community with which you want to work, and you have to do it at an impressive speed, because I feel that if not; the city either accepts you or spits on you, like it says: ‘well, you are not going to do it’; Then don’t be in New York, because the city is too demanding.
S: Yeah. Interesting and, with regard to this, in an interview I found that you just went to some… I don’t remember what it was, I don’t know if it was a mentoring program, a program like there were talks with people to understand the artistic dynamics in, I guess in the city, and that at some point, whoever was in charge, let’s say the speaker, I don’t know if he was an artist or an arts administrator, at some point… it was competitive to be able to enter and be admitted to it, but at some point they said that, “you all are nobody,” right? As if trying to make this aspect visible, right? Of a city and a world, which is not only restricted to New York City, in the world, right? The art world is very competitive. It has a double nature there. I consider myself, of double dimension where it is important to know how to be part of the circuits, and that your work is recognized or speaks for you. But there is also another part where there are artists, that this causes somewhat of a strong conflict, right? So try to find that balance. But hey, when you meet and face this, then you talk about this project that turned your room into a kind of gallery open to the community. You were living in the Bronx, and I think you’ve lived there since then. So tell us a little about this project. What makes it so unique? What does it generate? I have seen several photos about it. I suppose it is from the current project, but something that seems very interesting to me is seeing so many people, so many faces, so many cultures gathered. And they also enjoy it. So what does this project imply? What is the name? What does it start with? And what has it meant?
B: Ehh yes. There is a program organized by the Museum of the Bronx, it is called Artists in the Marketplace. And yes, I applied about 3, 4 times until they finally accepted me. And I felt very welcomed and very warm despite the fact that, in that workshop when the workshop owner made that comment, more than anything it was a way of saying, “well guys, you have to be humble.” If we accept them in this program but really realize that, the fact that their names do not appear in the NY Times or ARTNews, or nobody knows who they are, so if you think they are the divine heron because they are already in the program, because it is not like that. Because they still have a lot of work ahead of them. No? Tons. it was a way just to stop, I feel like to make ourselves more humble, right? And to realize that we had a lot of work ahead of us. In that project, it happens right in the… I participated in the program from 2007 to 2008, and it was fair that we had the economic crisis here in New York. And it was very interesting because at that time, the dynamics that happen in the galleries, and in the museums began to change a lot, or like suddenly… it was very funny because before you went to the openings, in the galleries and there was always, already you know, wine or something to eat or, you know, there was something present. After that, it disappeared. And there is something very curious that happens when those things are not part of the experience of being at an opening that, if you did not have that experience before, obviously if you did not live that and you go to a gallery and an exhibition now, and there is not that type of things, because you don’t know what it was, right? But one that does, is like, “it is not possible.” As the one who can share that experience of going to an opening and talking with the artists, that is, that also, that there is something beyond art, in an opening, is very important to me. I feel that it is a way of bringing you closer to others, people you don’t know, that makes it easier for you, doesn’t it? And it makes everything more enjoyable. It makes it more human. So I started to feel that if I could, I said, “art in a house is not something very original or novel, that artists have done it all over the world, they have done it all over the world, right?” It is not something that I am definitively, the first one that started this type of idea. But what I found very interesting was that I decided to open my bedroom. So, when I said, “the bedroom,” it created a lot of curiosity, because people did not know if they were going to come and if they were going to find my bed, my closet, that is, things that are normally in a bedroom, right? What they did not know is that I completely emptied the entire bedroom and painted it blue. So my projects were called. And what I was doing was that I had this, a mattress that I could roll up and put inside the closet. I do not know why, that apartment has many closets, there are places that do not have a closet but I do not know, that apartment has many. So, it kind of started to get a lot of attention, and in addition to being a woman, a Latina, and in the South Bronx, and they were saying, “What is wrong with this woman? I mean, she’s crazy!” People came and said to me, “Aren’t you afraid that things will be stolen from you?” What are they going to take away? That is, if this is an act of generosity. I’m here, opening up and people arriving, and does anyone want to bring something? Well, surely they need it more than I do! Surely, they will take it away! I don’t know. But nothing ever happened, right? By opening the space too, I received a lot of support from the Bronx council, The Bronx Arts Council. So the first year I invited an artist, and the artists exhibited for a month. Most of the artists were artists who made installations, I really wanted them to invade the space, right? I didn’t want it to be just a two-dimensional work, right? Like painting and photography, but really, consider what space was, and see what kind of work they could incorporate, and present. But also, I asked them to give a workshop that was referring to the work they were exhibiting, and to cook, to make a dinner for at least 20 people in the apartment. So, I lived with these artists a lot, yes, I lived a long time. So things came out in the house and the dynamics of the space began to change, my relationships within the community, and it was where I really began to feel that I was, really, creating a community here in the South Bronx. That was very nice because in New York, even though there are many people everywhere, it is a place where one can feel very lonely, if one is not from here, or does not have family or friends, or history in a place like this. So, from there, like I have never done anything like that in my life, so collective, and open, and work with other organizations. So when I started this project, I started to understand how it works, or the possibility of how you can collaborate with other organizations. Since you have, basically, a small space, it is a homemade idea. But somehow, you are also creating ideas and also, and providing a very particular experience, which I started to like a lot, right? It was also something that created many links between artists, between the community, between the organizations that participated. So we kind of saw a lot of possibilities during that project. And I did it for two years.
S: Ok. What were the main challenges you found in this regard?
B: That it was inside the house and I live in a small building. And then, for example, I had the hours, right? That I could invite people, and have, basically, the door open. Ehh, I think that was more the challenge. Ehh, it was not so much a matter of how it changed me in how I lived, because even I, when the artists arrived, installed the work, I slept inside the work, that is, it was part of my day, it was not… Challenging, a challenge? It was so organic that the project was not a gallery, it was an alternative space. So the purpose was not to generate an income through it. Then it was more, it was like developing an experience where we could all see what could be done without having a lot of dough, right? That it was possible to have an experience. Because in New York, it is an expensive city and I understand it, but not everything has to have the dollar sign at the end, that is, you can generate experiences that will generate a thousand more things than… perhaps with the experiences you have there, later you can generate other things. So, I did not have that dollar sign at the end, and I think the fact that it was more, it was something simple and communal, it generates you, because it is another experience, right? It is more from the heart.
S: Yes, yes. I think also, that is the difficulty when you are in spaces where the economies are much more competitive, where, well, where if you have to solve an endless number of circumstances that have to do with, with the economic part…
B: Sure!
S: And you lose sight of the importance is in, it is not that it is not important to eat, pay rent, and have clothes, but…
B: Yes, sure! No, and I was going to tell you, during the time the project was in the bedroom, I was teaching high school full time. That is, it wasn’t just me, waiting to see who would arrive to the space, if not me, I was teaching full time. I had the space. I was doing a thousand things. I say no, now, when I start to think I say, “Mothers! Where did I get so much energy from?” In other words, there were some things that happened in this period of those two years, but if that was also, I tell you, as I told you, the first year, we paid for everything between the artists and myself. Everything! From the openings, installation and… but already the second year, as we obviously had a history of what we had done, by the second year, we had the support of the Council, and even now, I was paying the artists.
S: Wow! Ok. And after that, you moved out. You were coordinating and, say, directing and organizing this project for two years, and then you went to Greece.
B: Yes, after two years I went to Athens and that change occurred for very many reasons, which for me was very tough. At that time, perhaps that was also what generated the energy I had and the need to create that community, it was that one of my brothers had a very serious accident in California and because of that, unfortunately we lost a nephew. A little nephew of 10 years old, Sebastián. And then, about a year or less, my grandmother who had been my second mother passed away. And it kind of hit me very hard and Leo, to my husband, I said, “You know what? I feel that I need to get away a little bit, I need to feel other things, to be in a place that does not bring back memories of…” I had to leave. I had… And then there was no other place where the two of us agreed, we decided to go to Greece. We decided to go to Greece. We arrived in 2010… In full crisis! Every day there was a protest. We lived in the center of the city of Athens, every day! I swear! I listened. I heard tear gas. It was like that, good lord! But it helped me a lot, it was such a long experience that it took me 6 years, wasn’t it, to return.
S: Yes, of course. If something doesn’t work then, then, one evaluates and you say, “well, I think it didn’t work, that’s fine, maybe we’ll come back.” But no, you were there for 6 years and just, I ask you because, in an interview, I found that this change artistically represented something very important to you, something you needed. And now if I want to address this question of, how you identify these barriers, or limits, or moments, or perhaps stagnation, something, right? That it is not actually flowing, and how do you break them? How do you get to that other point where, let’s say, something starts flowing again?
B: I feel that, now that you ask me that, when people see my work, that is, it is very different. They say, “Well, you were embroidering women that you took out of the Mexican comics, and now are you making these images?” In other words, they see it in a very different way and for me, everything like that, is intertwined. I really feel, it is baised, that there is a common thread that really unites the entire work. But yes, you see it all that way. That is, separately, and you say, “well, what is happening? In this little head, what is happening?” I feel that it really is the places that are guiding me, right? And as if, in addition, it is not only a change of space, but also when one changes space, one enters another country and enters another culture, you are eating other things, you are speaking another language, you are listening… I mean, really for me, the panorama changes you in a drastic way, right? And I have seen that there are artists who change from country to country, and perhaps the work does not change as much. To me, if it has really affected me, if I feel that I have migrated, which affects me in the sense that I have to take the time to recognize where I came from, and what kind of expressions exist there, and have existed, right? In other words, having arrived in Athens, because in some way it forced me to download things that I had experienced being in Mexico, right? Sometimes… It always happens that when you are far from where you are born, you obviously see it. From a distance and you see other things that being inside the country you don’t see them, right? So, Greece helped me a lot as to, to realize, even more, with more strength to understand the wealth that I had in Mexico, right? What there was, what I could hold on to, what I could really, then, follow this, exploring and developing. But being in Greece, for everything that was happening, and besides that also, I had simply visited Greece, before I had already gone to live there, about six years ago, right? So it was very rich to go in the summers, traveling through the islands, the archaeological zones, whatever you want. But when you live in a place, because the day-to-day forces you to feel the rhythms of the city, and even, the language, the rhythm of the language itself, also changes your feeling. And I started doing a lot of things in public space, something I have never done before in my life. I have training in painting and for me, you can put me in a little room with my brushes, and my watercolor, and acrylics, and there I am fine. So it wasn’t scary, it doesn’t feel like, imagine here (in Athens) like, here I don’t even really know what they’re doing. I go into public spaces and public space in Greece was very accessible, right? It is not as controlled as it is here in the United States. It is a little bit more like in Mexico. What’s more, in Athens I feel like I do when I’m in Mexico. I mean, I feel free, I swear to you. I said to my husband, “I feel that Greece, for me really, Greece is Mexico.” And he was like, “How?” “You don’t know! There are archaeological sites, they have delicious food, that is, the people are good-natured.” I mean, for me that was Mexico, I was in Mexico, in Athens. Being in Athens, the space itself allowed me to open and explore other possibilities, and another way of doing my arts in public space, which I had not previously considered. In New York, I say here, it’s almost impossible that I’m going to get into, what’s more, you don’t have access, right? In Greece, for some reason, there are many buildings that are abandoned, and you can freely enter that building. In other words, there are no barriers, there is nothing, that is, the majority and they are in the center of the city. There is beautiful neoclassical architecture that, obviously, there is a lot, the graffiti culture: I have never seen so much graffiti in my life as in Athens. I think Athens right now, as is the situation, I think it must be the country with the most graffiti in the world. I swear! It is everywhere, that is, there is one thing one day, the next day you go out and you can, basically, see on the wall, that is, there are comments on the wall, that’s it, it was like… Obviously the people who are there are just as fed up with ‘Oh, graffiti!’ And I said, “What a way! Everything is alive!” I mean… that’s why it took me 6 years! Because for me, even though it was, it was very… they were difficult years, for the country and for me it was not very easy to be there. But culturally, that’s what I saw was happening. It was so enriching, and so alive, where the city itself, and the artists, there was constant communication. That is, it was ‘this is happening’, and the artists are already reflecting it on the walls, and they are already doing some action… It was very alive! And there I did learn that things are done, but great, with so few resources. I saw spaces, I saw works, I saw some things that will never be able to be repeated in another place, because they also have amazing spaces, but they did it in a way! In other words, there was a daring that I have not seen anywhere else. That’s why it took me so long to come back, because it was also so rich to see all that, how people get together and they are very, very ‘no worries’, they are very anarchists. So, there are many things that as an artist, you have to experience them, and see, and see the possibility that one has as a creative person. That not only the gallery, the museum… that you have, it is part of, but it is not the purpose. I feel that, at times, many of the artists, we still have in mind that this must be the purpose; to do the work and have the gallery… That no longer exists! No longer exists! It exists for very few.
S: Yes, it becomes somewhat more privileged, say, but in the economic sense, right?
B: Also.
S: And not always, I think, that the best, the best reflection of this that the artists want to express, is not always in those places, right? If there are interesting things, if the value, you cannot deny it. But there is much greater authenticity in this type of phenomenon that happens, like the one you describe to us, which comes from voices that sometimes are not even exposed or so visible in that sense, or are not marketable, I don’t know.
B: Exactly. Also, I say, the freedom that you feel and see, we can even talk about materials that are used. On one occasion, I went to a space in Athens, where it was a place that had been a butcher shop. In other words, they brought meat, not that those things are very unique, that people have not used them, or those expressions. No. But when you see them like that, in such a crude way, It is something very visceral that, if you are, present and experience it, as a creative person, those sensations and what you take from that experience, you are going to transform it in one way or another as well. So, those exchanges were so rich, that is, as you say, in a space, with a gallery, a museum, they are controlled spaces. You are not going to be able to do certain things because there is a lot of risk. Maybe if a guy or someone who is involved with the museum, he finds out that you did a certain thing, that is… there is too much, it is a lot of risk, for the institutions, to present things that are more, yes, that have more of this, since they are more crude, right? And that rawness is what helps us, that’s why life is very tasty, isn’t it? The tasty thing about creating is really feeling things in real life, because getting into a museum, a gallery, it’s nice and all, but, you know the type of experience you are going to have. Even going to certain spaces, you can already guess, what is going to happen, what people are going to be there. Everything is already very ‘packaged’ and very predictable. My idea is that things are going to change, right? Now let’s see how the situation will be, now after the Pandemic, right?
S: Yes. I would like to ask you a bit about this, ehhh, if the pandemic has affected your practice in any way, or even your interests? If there has been a type of impact…? Also, you know, on a topic like emotions? Because not just other artists, but the people… it has been a very strong obstacles to face having to be isolated, in a certain sense, right? There are people who have not stopped working, but in general, one faces, especially in big cities, right? Like this dynamic of: you go, you work, you return, maybe you go to the movies, or maybe you are going to see a show, you go to the mall, right? Because there is a need, too, to be ‘outside’. And the pandemic has forced us to be more ‘inside’, not only in a physical space, but also more in contact as with us, with our own person, with the people we live with, if it is the case, with your own thoughts. So, there are people who have faced a very strong emotional havoc because it is not something they are used to, or there are people who do not like it. And there are a lot of very unmotivated people, right? So how has this dynamic affected you, and what reflections do you have in this regard? Not only as an artist, but as we talked about it before, right? How do you envision that people are going to get out of this period? Ehh, yes, as with the world, understanding it perhaps differently? No? Just for a while?
B: Yes. In terms of motivation I have felt, it does not take me much to feel unmotivated, because last summer, I started a series of paintings. I had almost 20 years without painting, and then I stopped them because I had to. That is, the summer had finished and I had put them away, because I have the AAA3A project here in the house, where I invite artists to now exhibit here in the room, right? So the room is practically my study. So, I had to save everything to be able to continue with the project, and when the pandemic came, I had no other choice but to take them out again. So, I’ve been painting a lot…
S: Yeah.
B: Ehhh, no, not on that side, I had no problem. Where yes, well obviously, what affected me was, because of the work I do is basically an educator. I was doing it right now in the spring, and then I lost all the work I had, right? I could only stay with giving some virtual classes, unfortunately, but everything else was no longer, I was left hanging. And in a matter of, that is, how it is… what I feel, basically, is that we don’t really change the way that, the labor issues. Because in the United States it has really been an impressive situation: the amount of unemployment that exists, the lack of medical resources… I mean, yes, these things, and also to see exactly how environmental things have changed, right? Those three themes, if we do not make changes, at least in matters of health, and the environment, water issues, ehh, and, if those things, we do not give them a turn, and if there is not this, say, as a type of social security, in general, we learned nothing from this. And that for me is going to be the most saddening thing of all: that we had the chance to see exactly what the flaws have been and what is the situation, the main thing. In other words, like everyone else, the fact that someone, that I can stay in the house, that is, is a privilege. There are many people who do not have that privilege. They have to go to work and they have to deal with it, to see if they get sick or not, and they do not have health insurance. There, there, if it is ‘cannon’. There if, really, the changes are not made at those levels. I feel that we did not learn anything. And that’s just like touching the surface, right? One can already go a little deeper, and really see what is the defect that we have as humanity, before the world, right? How really, we have been callous and do not think in a community way, ever. We are very individualized and well, I hope this makes us all reflect that, well, what my neighbor does, well, it affects me a lot and vice versa, right? And that we can have that kind of clearer and deeper consciousness -for me-, that would already be a huge thanks to the virus, right? And I’m very sorry for the losses, because yes, if we have lost many, many loved ones, right?
S: Yes, it is true. I like. Yes, I think, I agree with you. It is complex. But hey, let’s hope so. I was talking to some other creators, with whom we have conducted these interviews, and there is everything, right? There are many points of view and people who also, that is, are clear about it and propose the same thing. But they do share and say, “I am not optimistic.” You know? I think so, that these reflections go through the head at this critical moment, but then everything comes back to the same logic, from before, right? And what are those cycles, that until things that are much more serious, that pose and confront you, ehh, in a much harsher way with this type of situation, ehh, like things do not happen. There are small changes, right? And I just want to walk to that question. You have talked a lot about it, not because I asked you the question directly, but I would like you to share with us: Why is art important? What is it for? What is its role in the world? You know? If we had to explain it, for Blanka, why should art exist? It will exist, always, there is no way for art to end, from my humble point of view, but why is it important? Why should it be there?
B: Look… as long as human beings exist, art will exist. Because without human beings, and now, I see it more, if I go out, I have one, I live very close to an island called Randalls Island, and Leo and I have gone to walk a lot on the Island. When I walk on the Island, it is perfect, that is, nature is beautiful. You do not need to add anything, it is present, the trees are blooming, that is, nature gives us everything in a perfect way. But it is when human beings enter, that they begin to change the landscape. So, because we human beings enter, and we begin, and we begin to alter the things that nature gives us. That is why we need art. Because I feel that art, has to, continuously, remind you of what nature is. Nature has perfection. Nature, that is, I go out and breathe, and I see, and I already feel complete. So, when the human being destroys nature and the human being invades, and does not respect it, then there, we artists enter. I feel that we enter to remember, to remember what is beautiful. We also enter to create dialogues, but I feel that it is more like for, because we are constantly in that dialogue to re-establish those relationships that we have with nature and with ourselves. So that’s why, for me, art is important. If I go to a space where, which is… if I am in a perfect garden, flowers… if I walk through Central Park, I do not feel the need, after having been in Central Park, to go and go to the Metropolitano, or going to get into… I mean, already, for me, I already felt the perfection I needed to feel at that moment, but there are others… Yes, we need art to remind us of how human we can be… because we forget. We forget, many times we forget. And we do it, the artists, in a different way, right? There are artists who are going to present you with another way of seeing nature, another way of reacting, or another way of understanding the world, or demanding certain things that they are doing, or provoking you. But it is for, always to return you to your center, right? So that you question ideas, of how we have been as humans, how we have been transforming the natural world.
S: Yes, yes, I agree. I want, a little bit from this reflection, I want to ask you another question, which I have to ask since… You have spent the greatest amount of time in your life in the United States, and these 6 years in Athens, but I think they are framed by a little more to the United States. I was seeing around there too, that a part of your work, you worked with these comics that show women… I don’t know if there were also in the United States, but to me, when Peter asked me, and I started reading about it, invariably reminded me of the Libros Vaqueros, which they are called here in Mexico because of all these erotic and sexual stories, right?, Between men and women, etc. But where, certainly, right?, the woman becomes this sexual object, and not only in a comic, but is an idea of what women are in society. I don’t know if in the whole world, but in most societies, that’s how it works. So, well, in one of the interviews you said that, right? That women are seen as sexual objects. But I thought and had this curiosity of: what do you think when women, if due to the cultural part, if due to education, are not only considered as such, but who accept that role in society? And this coupled with, what is it like to create for you, as a woman, and as an immigrant woman, in a society like the United States? What does that mean and what does it represent?
B: Yes, right? I start working with these comics because in San Francisco I met an artist from Mexico City, who is called ‘Txutxo’ (Chucho) Perez, and he uses these images a lot, but he works them otherwise. He incorporates the image of the woman, but incorporates other materials, even Japanese or American comics, creates another dialogue, another very different narrative. And I started to see the woman and I said, “Why does the woman always have to be seen in this way?” And it was when, I started embroidering, because I started to see the way in which I could do, create a work that was purely feminine, that was really, that started from the most domestic, right?, which was to embroider, sew, working with textiles, or considered, therefore, feminine. Sure, there are men who also embroider and not only women we work with textiles, but that in particular, because it comes from a very macho culture, which gives that vision to women, where there is a lot and I say… This work, that series I started it at the beginning of the year 2000, there, and I wanted to focus on the idea of women, because what I was feeling when I was isolating women in embroidery, where it was no longer within the narrative they had the comics, the woman was empowered. She was no longer that woman who was within that narrative, where already isolated. For me she gained strength. And it was very curious because while I was embroidering women, I felt like I was gaining strength with them. And I found that dynamic very interesting. So that’s why, even, I have been working on comics right now, but in a different way.
At that time, obviously, I appropriated the images directly from the comics and I did not know the artists, because the images are available there. And I also worked with comics that are recycled comics, which I went to, whenever I went to Mexico, I was going to the market and shopping as well as, I don’t know, 5 for 10 pesos. And the man who sells the comics, it seemed very funny to me because, I stopped there, I was there looking for him, right? And he said, “But, miss, why do you want them?” And I, “Oh, I am going to embroider them.” And he did not understand, until one day, after I embroidered one, I took it to him, and he says, “Ahh, I understand!” But it seemed very strange to them that I would stop there, and well, she would buy like a hundred, right? They had to say, “And what is wrong with this woman? What is she going to do, who is here excited about those comics of naked women?” I left it because I started to no longer like it, because lately what they do is that they incorporate photography, and that was it. When I see them in comics, it doesn’t feel bad to me, I don’t agree with the narrative and what you want, but at least, I can decide if I like the comic or not. But when they incorporate photography, then they are already crossing another limit, and it ceases to interest me there, it is already, it is pornography, it is direct, right? So, I already see it very different and it doesn’t win me over. Ehh, but yes, I tell you, that method was very curious when working with it, to feel that with them, too, I was gaining strength. And they were very fruitful years, and that work, even, when I came from California to New York, was the one with which I really began to make myself known here, within the circuits within which I moved, with that job.
S: Yes, I think this is very peculiar. I want to ask you two more questions. One has to do with, uh, there are a lot of people who start in art, a lot of young people, right? And when you are young, because you have a lot of energy, you have a lot of hope, you have a lot of like, good or positive thoughts about the dynamics, right? And little-by-little you realize that it is not easy, right? Life in general is not easy. Life in the arts is not easy. What would you like to share, with those young people who are close to art, who decide that yes, art is a way of life they want to develop? What advice could you share with them? Or what knowledge would you have liked to have? What have you learned in all these years, and what would have been very functional for you, if you had known when, in those years when you started?
B: Oops! And right now, especially, the way things are, ehh? I think what I would have loved if someone said to me, “You know what, Blanka? Right now you are 19 years old, why don’t you put those drawings that you have, you put them there in Doña Rossy’s store? Why don’t you go and teach your cousin Loli’s son, who wants to learn to draw?” At 19 years-old. That, I feel that the kids, what they have to learn, is that the dynamics or the understanding of how art moves and where it goes, is very different, right? I don’t know why, we are still clinging to the idea of a gallery, a museum… that dynamic is already very weak, and it is very limiting, and it is not for everyone. And it is a reality. What I would advise you to do is to learn to do practical things, which will be very useful for you. If they can do a master’s or a doctorate … When I entered to study, there was an art world, and I’m in New York, here there is no art world, here there is the art market… and that changes the dynamic completely. Because we do not live in that world, perhaps, there is no bohemian world that one learns in art history, right? While studying, that does not exist, we are in an art market. So, it would be great if they studied how to cut hair, carpentry, things that are practical, because at the end of the day, if they can’t, for example, I think about it right now in these moments where I didn’t, that is, I lost my income, no? How are you going to support yourself? What are the things that you can access to continue your work? Obviously, it is important that if you can elaborate, and if you can really carry out the work you want to do, artistically, that this has a lot of strength. That obviously will lead to many, you are going to have to look for us, otherwise they will look for you, for the fact that you do the work, and that you carry it out clearly. But in a matter of, how do you stay in life? Oh man! Learn now, if you can, to do graphic design, all the things that you see that are necessary, and that people really need, regardless of what happens in the world. I think it is also something that would be very, very beneficial. If someone had said to me, “You know what? Why don’t you learn how to hammer nails?” I mean, I don’t know, fake eyelashes, you know? There are things that people will always want and that are present. No matter how much time passes, how the reality of humanity changes, right? But, yes, I think that I also recognize this a lot, that your work, the purpose of your work, is not always the gallery or the museum, but also the way to be able to share your work. It may be in the store that you have in the corner, or at the butcher shop, or the bakery, or do it, organize exhibitions between your family, at your grandmother’s house, or at your aunt’s house, or whoever has more space, invite other artists, collaborate. Those alternative spaces are also spaces where experiences are enriching us, strengthening us, because the more you expose, the more you understand what the dynamics are, and what you can do better, or how you want to organize with others, how you can start involving local entities, that participate with the idea that you have. The more, obviously, the more artists, not just artists, one can work with people who are in different professions, the dialogue is enriched when one does this. If you have an architect, a painter, a designer, a… that is, that not everyone has to be a visual artist, right? Or that it starts from that same formation. I think dialogue is always enriched, always.
S: Right.
B: And another thing that I also wanted to add is that I don’t know if I keep this in mind, that New York is the mecca of art, that everyone has to come to New York. It seems to me that it is the place, perhaps, less accurate. I, because I already have the experience of living in this country. That is, I have been here, my parents brought me, it was not my fault. They brought me! This, when I go to Mexico, there can be nothing richer than being in my country. I arrive, and everything is harmonized in such a different way, people move differently, we do other things. Unfortunately we are going through very difficult times, but everything changes. Everything changes. I am hopeful that many things will change, we will bring change, doing what we like, sharing it with people, and really doing it from the heart. Everything will change, I really have a lot of hope.
S: Yes, that is true. I have seen, that is, a little what we were talking about artistic life, in Greece, in Athens, that there are several currents that are brewing, already for several years, outside, you know, of the established circuits of the art, right? The galleries, or theaters, the forums, the festivals, ehhh, and I think that is very rich. But many times we do not know these circuits and they continue to be handled in this way ‘underground’, and it is well, very authentic and very enriching. But yes, I think, ehh, what you say, right? There are things that come in addition, in consequence of, but you are not looking for it from the beginning, it is rather in consequence of your own vision of what you want to make of your art.
B: Notice that, sorry to interrupt you, but also, always, my dream would be that when a student, with the first people you are going to meet, with the first people you are going to meet, is going to be with the artisans, with the people who already have that history with the materials, who have developed them and who manage them in a way, that you will never be able to have that experience because they are already 30 years old, 40, 50 … I mean, the fact that I, I say, must have an educational reform in terms of how we learn art, especially in Mexico, where we have so many, so many crafts. So many people with so much talent, with so much, ehhh, that is, one recognizes all that material but you don’t work it like they do. How nice it would have been if I had taken one. Well – yes, I wanted to study painting, but to start with someone who made alebrijes. I mean, there, there, look, there is sculpture and painting at the same time, I would have learned. And not only that, it is not only the fact that the technique is learned, you also learned through the person, which is the most tasty part with the artisans, the most beautiful. Being in a country like Mexico, that we are still, still very racist… because we are! Ehh, those encounters from different communities enrich us all, everyone. So, always, I know that this, because that happens to all of us, you are inside your country and you are always looking outside. You do not see what you have inside, because this is what happens to all of us. But it is my dream to say, “I am going to the CMA in Cuernavaca, and when I enter, the first teachers who will receive the first-year students, or even other (years), will be the local artisans, they know that the materials that are there work.” That would be for me, it is my dream, it is my dream. To see this at some point.
S: You know it is very curious, because, thanks to this project, and in particular, to meet Peter, who he is, I come from the performing arts, but well, he is a visual artist. So, he kind of opened this path for me, not the visual arts because I have always liked them, I like art in general, but yes, to meet more profiles in…
B: Yes ..
S: …in particular, because in your country, which is the United States, and one of the things that we have found, which seems very peculiar to me, because I have been living in this city for 32 years, in Mexico City, and I have that background. I have left, I have returned, but I have never lived for a long time outside. But one of the things that I see and, of some of the artists that we have invited to do Takeovers in our Instagram, and of these interviews, is that artists like you, also, who are not afraid, not at all, of highlighting these features of our traditional culture, which become something else, right? Because it is not that, what you are recreating is not, it is not exactly a craft, or only, as in your case, that you also work a lot with the confetti and these things, it is not only the confetti, but what you, you put that role, and where do you put it, and along etc, right? Ehhh, and they are of those types of expressions, that are highly valued abroad, but, this aspect that you mention, that in the country we are very racist and we have a vision, I consider, highly colonized of what we have to understand about art, how it should be. Ehhh, so this type of… I have met many people, who are classified as an ‘easy’ way of being on artistic circuits abroad, because they take the cultural features of our own culture and of our own identity but, I respect it, right? But also, contemporary art is very diverse and very broad, but it seems very peculiar to me that there are many of those artists, they are what move many people, right? How to identify them, that their art or what you are creating, not only the part of the cultural-artistic product, but for example, your projects, to convert your bedroom, in its time, as a space to house other artists young people, to express yourself, as you do now, not in a bedroom but in your living room. Ehhh, all those things, right? It talks to many people. It touches them. It speaks to them in many ways. And I think that it is important not to leave it out of sight, not to think that it is an easy path, but rather, each of these elements shapes us…
B: Yes.
S: …we are very different voices…
B: That’s right.
S: …we have very different things to express and well, I think, which is the way of maintaining, as you say with the artisans, as a tradition of our identity. Ehhh, Blanka, is there any form of art or movement, artistic concept, that you’re seeing developing, and that looks like it’s going to have an impact? Something interesting? Does it come in this same line, perhaps, from what is done outside these circuits?
B: Yes.
S: Is there an artist that you are drawn to or that catches your attention?
B: Well, look, especially because I’m in New York and I see it a little more, I feel that every day new identities that break with the norms on sexuality begin to become visible, and this seems to me that the LGBT communities are creating work that finally, because it has more acceptance because the systems, writers, historians and critics, They are there, right? To support their creations, and their expressions, and … I mean a complete diverse LGBT community: brunette, black, white, Asian, Latin, Caribbean, African American… and this happens in all forms of artistic expression here in New York. I feel that there is no community today really, here in New York, that is more creative than members of the LGBT community. I see young people, and not so young, they are creating spectacular things. Ehh, I see it in the streets of the city, well, before the Pandemic, that is, the way they dress, in museums, the work that theaters present in the galleries. Really for me, it has been very enriching and since I returned from Greece, I have been here for 4 years, I even feel that it has also forced me to speak a new language, because there are times when the articles have changed, and it still costs me suddenly this, I don’t know if they are identified as ‘him’, ‘her’ or ‘them’. Tons, that is, there are things that have been very interesting. So I feel like the LGBT community is creating some awesome things. It is giving us the opportunity to see a different world.
S: Yes, I agree. It is impressive to think about it because, I don’t know, you being in New York, a lot happens to me being in Mexico City. And I say, Mexico City is quite progressive. It has a much more open vision. But when you travel to the interior of the country, you realize that it is not so. So, it’s still something, they’re still minorities, actually. We may not think of it as such, living in a city so large that it already has new ideas about it, but, but yes, in many sectors of the country, particularly Mexico, it is not. They are still minorities and there are still people who are afraid or, because of ideas, precepts, social prejudices, they don’t dare, right? So yes, it seems to me that it is very important that also, just, through art, it is a way of bringing this type of subject closer and raising awareness, and reflecting, and expressing it in some way…
B: Yes, and do you know what is delicious that happens? That I am seeing more work of African-American communities, of Caribbean, in New York, that I say, “Finally!” In other words, I have been coming and going since 2003 and being here, and finally, they are being given the recognition they deserve. And I find it beautiful.
S: Very well Blanka, I am going to move on to the last part, which is the section for more or less quick questions. I know that many things are going to be left out. It is a very interesting story, your return to NY, what you have been doing since then… we are going to invite the audience to visit your website and well, your social networks, so that if they want to know a little more about you, then dare and write to you, and ask you.
S: Are you ready? Okay. Favorite music album, composer or album.
B: Oh Man! They are many, but here it goes. Ehh, Tropicalia II. De Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.
S: What is your favorite movie?
B: I have many, many, many… hello! But I would say that a Danish film that came out in 1987, which is called The Babbette Party.
S: Ok. Some piece, work, created by some other artist, that has left an impression on you.
B: Oh Man! … there are many, many, many. Last year, I went to see the work of an American-Japanese artist who … Barbara Takena… Takenaga, great!
S: Ok. It will be good to keep track of them. Favorite book or reading that you recommend.
B: Oops! Oh man… Last summer I was in Morelia, and before that, like 6 years ago, I found a volume of, a compilation of articles rescued from Rosario Castellanos. And being in Morelia I was able, there are 3 volumes, but I had only achieved Volume III. ‘Tons, with this Volume III, I walked for many years. But now already, I finally have all three volumes. So yes, it is called, Woman of Words. And they are delicious volumes.
S: Ok, ok. What makes Blanka curious?
B: What makes you curious…? I am curious, notice that despite everything, what still causes me a lot of curiosity, is to see how the art world moves. And how you decide who the artists will be, or what the movement will be at a certain moment. That makes me very curious.
S: Is there any advice, that is, some very good advice that someone has given you? And some very bad advice that someone has given you?
B: I am very bad at taking advice. I am terrible. I don’t listen to anyone.
S: That is good advice.
B: It has been good and bad. But yeah, I swear no, no, no. I’m bad at taking advice.
S: Ok. If at some point in life you had the opportunity to know an absolute truth to a question, to a knowledge that is going to reveal the mystery of life, what could it be?
B: Oh man! Ehhh, I would like to know where the aliens live.
S: Ok. Do you think that society, be it North American or Mexican, has a stigma that it should overcome?
B: Fear of those who are different, of difference.
S: Finally. If today they told you that you can no longer do what you like, what is art and create, draw, paint, organize, ehhh, what would happen to you?
B: Nothing. Nothing nothing. Life would go on. I would go on, and yes, no, no, not this… Life would go on and I would also go on without making art. Because before art, I’m Blanka. Art is part of me but before art, I am Blanka.
S: Very well. Blanka, thank you very much! Thank you very much for taking this time to talk with us, to share a little more about who you are, what you have been doing, your life. Is there anything else you would like to share?
B: Ehhh, well, thank you, thank you very much, this one, for this opportunity to share what has been part of my life, and I hope that everything is very well, and that after the pandemic, I can have the pleasure of meeting you in person.
S: Oh, of course! We will give ourselves the chance. Hopefully yes.
B: Take good care of yourself, thank you very much and take good care of yourselves.
S: Thank you very much, a pleasure!
B: Good afternoon, greetings!
S: Same. Good evening!
B: Bye, bye.
S: Thank you for joining us in this interesting conversation with Blanka Amezkua. If you want to know more about her work, you can visit her website www.blankaamezkua.com/.
References:
- Accademia di belle Arti en Florencia: https://accademiadarte.net/home/
- Universidad Estatal de California Fresno: https://www.csufresno.edu/
- MoMA-P.S.1: https://www.moma.org/ps1
- Exit Art: https://exitartcatalog.stores.yahoo.net/
- The Bronx Museum of the Arts: http://www.bronxmuseum.org/
- El Museo del Barrio: https://www.elmuseo.org/
- Queens Museum of Art: https://queensmuseum.org/
- Towson University: https://www.towson.edu/
- Dorsky Gallery: https://www.dorsky.org/
- The Taller Boricua: https://tallerboricua.org/
- The Block Gallery: http://m.bronxmuseum.org/aim/
- Bronx Blue Bedroom Project (BBBP): http://www.bronxbbp.com/
- Bronx Council on the Arts: https://www.bronxarts.org/
- Fokianou Art Space: https://www.fokianou247.gr/
- Alexander Avenue Apartment 3A (AAA3A): http://blankaamezkua.com/aaa3a/index.html
- ARTnews: https://www.artnews.com/
- New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/
- Multidisciplinary: https://www.taike.fi/en/web/monitaide/multidiciplinary-art#:~:text=Multidisciplinary%20art%20encompasses%20professional%20artistic,and%20existing%20between%20established%20artforms.
- Napkins for the tortillas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgKU3VyNGsM
- weaving: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tejido_(textil)
- Los Charcos: http://www.nuestro-mexico.com/Michoacan-de-Ocampo/Tanhuato/Los-Charcos/
- Universidad de Búfalo: http://www.buffalo.edu/
- Worldbeat: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldbeat
- Towers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
- Artists in the Marketplace (AIM): http://m.bronxmuseum.org/aim/
- The Bronx Arts Council: https://www.bronxarts.org/
- Graffiti Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9KxbaSU-Eo
- Graffiti: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafiti
- Fulano: https://dle.rae.es/fulano
- Randalls Island:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randalls_and_Wards_Islands
- Central Park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park
- Metropolitan: https://www.metmuseum.org/
- Libros Vaqueros: http://www.ellibrovaquero.com/
- Jesus ‘Txutxo’ Perez: http://arttxperez.com/
- Alebrijes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alebrije
- CMA: http://www.cmamorelos.edu.mx/
- Takeovers: https://proartesmexico.com.mx/artist-takeovers/
- LGBTT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT
- Tropicalia II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhi4_VRwz6o
- Caetano Veloso: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caetano_Veloso
- Gilberto Gil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilberto_Gil
- El festín de Babbette: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_fest%C3%ADn_de_Babette
- Barbara Takenaga: https://www.barbaratakenaga.com/
- Rosario Castellanos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosario_Castellanos
- Mujer de Palabras: https://sites.google.com/site/hanbazuhealth/home/mujer-de-pa-5xezntd1klg7c4w