Jacqueline Valenzuela

Munzón Gallery is delighted to present Sunday Service: Slow Ride, Jacqueline Valenzuela’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. The exhibition opens with a reception on Saturday December 9th from 6-9pm.

La Guadalupana has transcended beyond the Catholic imagery brought over during the colonization of the Americas. She was originally a figure meant to give God the attributes of a maternal figure–  "unconditional love, solidarity, and a never-failing presence at the effective level," (Castillo & J. Rodriguez, 1995, p. 26). However, she has now transformed into a maternal figure for many cholo youth in the Chicano world– seen as a protective image to be carried by "the oppressed, the dispossessed, the outlawed, and the repressed,” (Castillo & L. Rodriguez, 1995, p. 128). For this reason, La Gudalupana and Catholic aesthetics/artistry have made their way into the Chicano world of lowriding. The connections between religious and ritualistic traditions can be seen throughout the lowrider community. Whether it be through the candy-painted, flaked-out rides with religious murals, the lavish interiors that can be compared to the intricate sculptures, stained glass, and murals in Catholic Churches. Even the parallels between cruising on Sunday mornings and going to church on the Sabbath are too striking to ignore. The mere act of building or cruising a lowrider has spiritualistic underpinnings similar to the act of worship. These aesthetic and symbolic elements have only cemented the importance of religious influence within the Chicano world of lowriding. 

In Sunday Service: Slow Ride, Jacqueline Valenzuela has used traditional oil painting techniques, assemblage, and installation works to analyze how Catholic aesthetics, particularly La Guadalupe, have become important themes in the Chicano world of lowriding. Using images of custom lowrider murals that Valenzuela painted over three years and combining them with skill sets she gained while working in the lowrider automotive world, Valenzuela creates pieces that evoke a feeling of worship. The assemblage and installation elements also draw on these skill sets while honing in on the idea of altar building and the performance of a spiritual quest. Overall, Sunday Service: Slow Ride delves into the way in which lowriding has become a place of worship for Valenzuela– where she creates, lives, and breathes within the lowrider world in a ritualistic manner.

Bio

Jacqueline Valenzuela (b. 1997 East Los Angeles, CA) received a BFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University Long Beach (2019). Her work has been exhibited nationally, including the South Gate Museum, Mexic-Arte Museum, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, The Mexican Center for Culture and Cinematic Arts of the Mexican Consulate, The Cheech – Riverside Art Museum, the Brand Library & Art Center, and Muzeo Museum. She recently had the opportunity to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Ellsworth Residency at ArtShare L.A. This year she was awarded a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship for the Emerging Artist Tier as a Los Ángeles County Awardee. Spring 2024 she will be an artists in residence at Arts at Blue Roof in Los Ángeles. And in Fall of 2024 she will have a solo show, “Con Safos, Con Fuerzas”, with the Bakersfield Museum of Art (BMoA).

Valenzuela is a multi-media artist whose practice is centered around depicting her personal experiences as well as the storytelling of other women who like her are in the Chicano world of lowriding.  Her art practice reflects the deep roots she has planted in the lowrider community by bridging the gap between fine art and this underrepresented community.