Carmen Lomas Garza: Picturing the Familiar

A major retrospective spanning more than 50 years of Carmen Lomas Garza's career, exploring how her vibrant paintings of family celebrations and Mexican American life transformed ordinary moments into enduring cultural expressions. About Spanning more than 50 years of the career of one of the most influential Chicana artists, Carmen Lomas Garza: Picturing the Familiar explores how Garza's vibrant paintings of family celebrations, neighborhood traditions, healing practices, and everyday Mexican American life transformed ordinary moments into enduring expressions of cultural identity and community. The first major retrospective devoted to Garza in more than two decades, Carmen Lomas Garza: Picturing the Familiar presents the artist's work alongside paintings, prints, photographs, and archival materials by 17 artists whose friendships, collaborations, and shared commitment to the Chicano Movement helped shape her artistic journey. Together, these works illuminate the creative networks that defined the Chicano art movement while celebrating Garza's lasting influence on generations of artists. The exhibition also reunites four paintings originally featured in Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge (2001), creating a meaningful connection between Cheech Marin's landmark exhibition and this new examination of Garza's extraordinary career. Carmen Lomas Garza: Picturing the Familiar is organized by ASU Art Museum Senior Curator Alana Hernandez, with ASU Art Museum Latinx Curatorial Fellow Natalie Solis. Major support is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Teiger Foundation. Generous funding is provided by the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support is provided by Michele Huffman and the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with a Community of Practice composed of Fernando Hernández, Chef; Susan Bauer, M.Ed, NBCT; Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz, Curandera; and Dr. Sonia Vega-López, Professor in Nutrition and Assistant Dean of Inclusive Excellence in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. Read more Toggle Photography Prints Painting