In conjunction with Francis Almendárez’ exhibition, rhythm and (p)leisure, join us for an artist talk and conversation with independent curator Leslie Moody Castro on Wednesday, September, 9 at 4:30PM. In his multi-media exhibition, Almendárez investigates the fruit and labor of working-class people, specifically of Central American and Caribbean diasporas. His work brings both physical labor and cultural production into the foreground, blurring the line between work and play/leisure. As an independent and itinerant curator, Leslie Moody Castro, divides her time between Mexico City and Texas. Her curatorial work centers on active visitor participation, and arbitrating the conversation between visitors and artists with the gallery as a conduit for ideas, exchange, and conversation.
This conversation will take place via Zoom and be broadcast live to GAC’s Facebook page.
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About the speakers:
Francis Almendárez is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and educator that traverses the intersections of history, (auto)ethnography, and the arts. Using them as tools to address memory and trauma, he attempts to unpack and reconstruct identity, specifically of im/migrant, queer, working-class bodies of Central America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas. Almendárez has participated in exhibitions, screenings, and performances in the US and abroad. Recent shows including rhythm and (p)leisure, Artpace, San Antonio, TX; The Potential Wanderer, The Reading Room, Dallas, TX; Sisyphus, Ver.20.18, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan; and Voices of Our Mothers: Transcending Time and Distance, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX. He is the recipient of a Houston Artadia Award, and the Carol Crow Memorial Fellowship from Houston Center for Photography. He has also been a participant of the Artpace International Artist-in-Residence program, and the Institute of Contemporary Art Moscow Summer School. Writing on his work has been featured in publications including D Magazine, spot Magazine, Artforum, ARTNEWS, Glasstire, Y.ES Contemporary, and The Dallas Morning News among others. Almendárez was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and is currently living and working in Houston, TX where he is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Houston School of Art. He received his MFA in Fine Art (with Distinction) from Goldsmiths, University of London and BFA in Sculpture/New Genres from Otis College of Art and Design.
Leslie Moody Castro is an independent curator and writer whose practice is based on itinerancy and collaboration. She has produced, organized, and collaborated on projects in Mexico and the United States for more than a decade, and her repertoire of critical writing is also reflective of her commitment to place. She is committed to creating moments of artistic exchange and dialogue and as such is a co-founder of Unlisted Projects, an artist residency program in Austin, Texas. In 2017, she was selected as Curator and Artistic Director of the sixth edition of the Texas Biennial, and was recently the first invited curator in residence at the Galveston Artist Residency. Moody Castro earned a Master's degree at The University of Texas at Austin in Museum Education with a portfolio supplement in Museum Studies in 2010, and a Bachelor's degree in Art History at DePaul University in Chicago in 2004, and has been awarded two grants from the National Endowment of Arts for her curatorial projects (2016, 2017). In addition to her firm belief that the visual arts creates moments of empathy, Moody Castro also believes that Mariachis make everything better.