Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is pleased to announce the acquisition of Karla Diaz's My Sleeping Beauty II and Grandma's Crossing by The Pérez Art Museum Miami. Diaz’s recent work is the result of a year of insomnia. In her commitment to rendering a painting every night, Diaz turned to the unfiltered, spontaneous imagery that surfaced during her insomnia, whether dreams, fantasies, or memory. In her introspection, splashes of color became figures and objects that transformed into scenes of domesticity and city life drawn from her upbringing in Mexico and Los Angeles. Personal memories, folklore, familiar iconography of her Mexican heritage, and American pop culture are intertwined in surreal compositions that consider family, loss, and the complexities of the Latinx experience in the United States.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is pleased to announce the acquisition of Ken Gonzales Day's Erased Lynchings V and Nightfall by The National Gallery of Art. Ken Gonzales-Day focuses on interdisciplinary and conceptually grounded photographic projects that consider the history of photography, the construction of race, and the limits of representational systems. Erased Lynchings V includes 15 inkjet prints of the fronts and backs of postcards as well as stereo and archival photographs of lynchings. Nightfall, from his series Searching for California Hang Trees, was part of his effort “to witness for myself, the land on which these acts had occurred,” he said. Although he discovered that most of the historic hang trees where lynchings took place in California were destroyed after the murders or had died from disease, he was able to determine the sites where the crimes occurred. 

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is pleased to announce the acquisition of Hector Dionicio Mendoza's Leaning, Holding, Pushing by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Congratulations to Hector and we extended our sincerest gratitude to the Latino Art Fund for making this possible. Mendoza's ancestral matrice forms the foundation for his ambitious and expansive multimedia practice, with its surprising explorations and unconventional use of natural, organic, synthetic and recycled materials, he explores themes of migration and the environment as well as the geographies of place, memory, identity, and the visualization of immigrant stories.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is delighted to announce the acquistion of Griselda Rosas' La Batalla de Vortex and Tragaluz (Skylight) by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Acquisition made possible through the Drawings and Prints Department and the generosity of Karen R. Constine. Informed by her fluid experiences with the Mexico and US border and life between Tijuana and San Diego, her work deconstructs the ambiguities of identity and place, learned, and generationally passed subjugation, and the legacies of colonization and conflict.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is pleased to announce the acquistions of Vian Sora's Cherry Pickers, 2022 and Untitled with a Lotus, 2024 by the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, CA. The gallery extends our sincere apprecation to the board and the generosity of Henry V. Heuser, Jr. Sora's mixed media paintings suggest the struggle of the individual, often employing faceless, androgynous figures that transmute into abstract expressionism. Figures and cultural motifs are progressively enmeshed in gestural fields of color, rendering them sometimes invisible. This dialogue between figuration and abstraction acts as a metaphor that reflects upon the detritus of war and nature that distorts our world, memory and physical boundaries and ultimately the dynamics of change. She is inspired by the human will to survive during suffering and dig within the detritus to begin again the replication and rejuvenation of life itself.  

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is delighted to announce the acquisition of Hector Dionicio Mendoza's Familia Universal/ Universal Family by the Crocker Art Museum.  Hector Dionicio Mendoza’s works are informed and guided by his own personal experiences and the realities and politics of the U.S./Mexico border. Familia Universal/ Universal Family commemorates the journey that many migrant families have made and continue to make in order to start a new life in the U.S. The gallery extends its most sincere appreciation to Scott Shields, curator at the Crocker Museum, and board member Simon K. Chiu for his generous support.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is delighted to announce the acquisition of Sherin Guirguis' Untitled (Bennu).  Untitled (Bennu) is part of a series of works inspired by Farīd al-Dīn Aṭṭār’s 12th-century Sufi poem, The Conference of the Birds (Manṭeq al-ṭayr). The artist channels her ancestors, personal experiences, and agency as a woman to draw parallels between Aṭṭār’s story of self-awareness and kinship, and the mythologies of ancient Egypt’s sacred birds.  The gallery extends its sincere gratitude to Anna Katz, Curator, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the Drawings and Photography Committee for its generous contribution.

Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage is the first major museum exhibition devoted to exploring the breadth and complexity of Black identity and experiences in the United States through collage. Works by multiple generations of living artists examine concepts such as cultural hybridity, gender fluidity, historical memory, and notions of beauty and power.  This groundbreaking exhibition brings attention to the richness of collage as an art form.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles congratulates Hector Dionicio Mendoza on the acquisition of "Coyota/e", 2022, by OZ Art NWA in Bentonville, AR. We extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to Olivia Walton, co-founder and chair of OZ Art NWA, the board of the foundation, along with Chad Alligood, independent curator and art historian.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is delighted to announce the Pérez Art Museum's acquisition of Evita Tezeno's collage-painting, "The Rhythm of Street Life", 2023. Our heartfelt congratulations to Evita and our most sincere appreciation to Maritza Lacayo, Assistant Curator, Pérez Art Museum Miami, the PAMM curatorial team, and PAMM's Collectors Council.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is thrilled to announce the Baltimore Art Museum's acquisition of Mimi Smith's sculpture "Don't Turn Back", 1985. Our congratulations to Mimi Smith and our sincere appreciation to Jessica Bell Brown, Curator and Head, Department of Contemporary Art, Baltimore Museum of Art; Asma Naeem, The Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director; the curatorial team, as well as the Contemporary Accessions Committee and the Board of Trustees.

Co-organizers Meg Onli and Chrissie Iles select fellow filmmakers, artists, and curators to help develop the unprecedented Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing, opening March 20, 2024.  The Whitney Museum of American Art announces the addition of five curators to help lead the film and performance program for the 2024 Whitney Biennial. Co-organizers Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli have invited Korakrit Arunanondchai, asinnajaq, Taja Cheek, Greg de Cuir Jr, and Zackary Drucker to join them in developing a Biennial that goes beyond the Museum’s traditional in-gallery presentation to showcase the latest creativity and innovation in art, film, performance, and sound.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is very pleased to announce the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's acquisition of two works by Ken Gonzales-Day: Run Up, 2002, a photograph from the Searching for California's Hang Trees series, and Untitled (After Hale Woodruff, Giddap, 1935), 2021, from the Anti-Lynching Drawings (with Figures Removed) series.

The gallery extends its most sincere thanks to Eve Schillo, Assistant Curator of the Wallace Annenberg Photography Department, and the LACMA Development team for helping to make this acquisition possible, along with Paula Ely and Cesar Rueda for their generous contribution.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is delighted to announce the acquisition of June Edmond's Silence.  June Edmonds’s Flag series explores the American flag as a malleable symbol of ideals and promises, and creates space for new symbols of identity and inclusivity. The idea for the series was prompted by several personal experiences she had involving the American and Confederate flags, and the rise of the Far Right during the 2016 presidential election. Silence (and a smaller version titled Innocence) is the only painting in the series that doesn’t follow the classic configuration of the Stars and Stripes. Instead, the composition of Silence bears a striking resemblance to the Confederate banner.  Edmond's states: "Silence — the telling of lies, conscious and unconscious ignorance, and the benefit of presumed innocence — is what I am addressing in this flag painting."  We extend our sincere gratitude to Paul Baker Prindle, director of the Museum.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is delighted to announce the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's acquisition of Vian Sora's painting Dilmun. Our hearty congratulations to Vian Sora on having her second work enter the permanent collection. The gallery also extends its most sincere appreciation to James Gleeson, PhD, Curator of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art; the Collections Committee and the SBMA Board of Trustees.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is thrilled to announce the acquisition of six unique cyanotypes by Lia Halloran, by the Harvard College Observatory and the Astronomical Photographic Plate Collection (Harvard Plate Stacks). 

The gallery congratulates Lia Halloran on having her work enter the collections of these esteemed institutions and extends its sincere appreciation to Thom Burns, Curator of Astronomical Photographs, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian. The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is a research arm of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Astronomy at Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is pleased to announce the acquisition of Evita Tezeno's Standing on the Promises, 2022 by the Figge Art Museum.  The gallery extends its most sincere thanks to Andrew Wallace, Director of Collections and Exhibitions; The Board of Trustees' Acquisition Committee; and Dr. Randy Lewis, Davenport, IA.

Standing on the Promises takes its inspiration from one of Tezeno's favorite gospel hymns, “Standing on the Promises of God,” written by Russell Kelso Carter in 1886.

View Figge Art Museum

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is thrilled to announce the acquisition of Vian Sora's painting Forest Remains, I, by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.  The gallery offers its deep appreciation to James Glisson, PhD, Curator of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Eik Kahng, Registrar; and Nicolas Mutton, Chair, Basil Alkazzi, who underwrote the acquisition, and the entire SBMA Board of Trustees.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is thrilled to announce the acquisition of Vian Sora's painting 'Last Sound', by the Baltimore Museum of Art.  The gallery extends its most sincere gratitude to Jessica Bell Brown, Curator and Head, Department of Contemporary Art, Baltimore Museum of Art; Asma Naeem, The Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director and Chief Curator; Cynthia Hodge-Thorne, Meyerhoff-Becker Curatorial Fellow; and Helene Grabow, Senior Collections Development Manager; Shelby Merritt, Associate Registrar; as well as the Contemporary Accessions Committee and the Board of Trustees.

'Last Sound', a large mixed media painting on canvas, is a response to the displacement and oppression that migrants and immigrants confront — the hardships endured, their constant refusal, lost identity, and the last familiar sound that keeps resonating in their life.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is very pleased to announce The Art Institute of Chicago's accession of Ken Gonzales-Day's Erased Lynchings I, 2006, into the permanent collection.  The Erased Lynchings series (2002-ongoing) began with a focus on the history of lynching in California and has brought new scholarship and awareness to the history of lynching nationwide. The research specifically expanded the number of known cases in California, and the work now includes the lynching of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, and Jews, in the American West and nationwide. 

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is proud to announce the Museum of Modern Art's accession of The Wonder Gaze (St. James Park), 2006, by Ken Gonzales-Day, into the permanent collection.  The Wonder Gaze (St. James Park) is one of the most recognized photographic works by Ken Gonzales-Day. It depicts the lynching of Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes in St. James Park, San Jose, CA, in 1933. It is part of the Erased Lynchings series (2002-ongoing), which began with a focus on the history of lynching in California and has brought new scholarship and awareness to the history of lynching nationwide. 

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is proud to announce the Whitney Museum of American Art's acquisition of GRAFT, 2022, by Edra Soto. GRAFT was featured in the museum's landmark exhibition “no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria," organized by the DeMartini Family Senior Curator, Marcela Guerrero. The gallery wishes to thank the museum and everyone who made this acquisition possible.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is proud to announce that Dallas-based artist Evita Tezeno has been named a 2023 Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Her fellowship is supported in part by the Joel Conarroe Fund, named for the former President of the Foundation who was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1977.

The Bemis Center's Ree Kaneko Award was created to award $25,000 unrestricted, by nomination to an alum of the program to provide financial support to increase the capacity of an artists practice.

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is pleased to announce that Grinnell College Museum of Art, Grinnell, Iowa recently acquired four works by artist Vian Sora.  The works included Eden I,2022, Eden II, 2022, River Bed, 2022, and Thirst, 2021.  Sora's work utilizes a synthesis of styles and iconography taken from both her native, modern and ancient Iraq and adopted cultures, along with a variety of techniques.

"CCF is proud to support our Fellowship for Visual Artists fellows in their artistic careers and we celebrate their commitment to transforming communities through their work. Each of our fellows embody the future of arts in LA."

Adornment | Artifact is a multi-venue art experience that celebrates ancient Nubia through contemporary art, events, and conversations. Housed at five sites across the city, Adornment ⏐ Artifact investigates how contemporary artworks made in Los Angeles by LA-based artists engage and express the traditions, objects and materials that shaped the cultures of the Nile River Valley. In conjunction with the Getty's exhibition Nubia: Jewels of Ancient Sudan, four contemporary artworks by Lauren Halsey, June Edmonds, Melvin Edwards, and Umar Rashid will be on view at the Getty Villa.

Trees feature prominently in the origin stories of many world religions. Ancient history recounts how their shade and branches have been sites of contemplation, suffering, and renewal. Today, trees still speak: deep root systems form tangled webs of communication, blunt stumps nod to deforestation, and charred limbs attest to fires started by our own hands. First curated by Bridge Projects, a gallery that catalyzes interdisciplinary explorations of contemporary art, spirituality, and religious traditions, To Bough and To Bend explores these ecological issues through the work of 30 artists who look to religious and historic art practices to guide us back into fellowship with these old friends and the living world we share.