The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture is now showing the first comprehensive retrospective of celebrated Chicana artist Amalia Mesa-Bains, featuring nearly 40 works spanning more than three decades.
"Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory," on display through August 2025, marks both the exhibition's only Southern California appearance and the final venue of its national tour.
María Esther Fernández, artistic director of The Cheech, stated, "We are thrilled to bring this important retrospective to Southern California for the first time and to be the culminating venue on its national journey."
The exhibition includes 10 large-scale installations and presents the Southern California premiere of Mesa-Bains' latest sculpture, "Celestial Cihuateotl."
"Celestial Cihuateotl" (Courtesy of The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture)
Born in 1943 to Mexican immigrant parents in Santa Clara, California, Mesa-Bains has established herself as a pivotal figure in Chicanx art. Her work explores themes of memory, identity, cultural resilience and feminist reclamation.
The retrospective features all four parts of her biographical series, "Venus Envy," which examines the experiences of Mexican American women in California.
"Circle of Ancestors" (Courtesy of The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture/Daria Lugina)
According to exhibition materials, Laura Elisa Pérez, UC Berkeley professor and co-curator of the exhibition, notes that "Mesa-Bains' art uncovers hidden histories and pushes back against dehumanizing ideologies, highlighting the value and humanity of marginalized communities with empathy and insight."
Mesa-Bains received a MacArthur "Genius" Grant in 1992, but this marks her first comprehensive retrospective.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog co-published with UC Press and a video installation of the documentary "Amalia Mesa-Bains: In Her Own Worlds," directed by Ray Telles.
Mesa-Bains' works are included in collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution, among other prestigious institutions.
More information: The exhibition is on view now through August 3, 2025 at The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture at 3581 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA, 92501. Admission tickets include entry into both Riverside Art Museum and The Cheech and you may purchase them at riversideartmuseum.org.
