The Lamar Dodd School of Art is pleased to announce that recent MFA alumnus Guadalupe Navarro has been featured in a prestigious Craft in America exhibition titled "DEMOCRACY 2020: CRAFT & THE ELECTION". This dynamic virtual exhibition of works made by 21 artists from across the U.S. to address key issues underlying the 2020 election and the American political landscape.

Guadalupe Navarro graduated with an MFA in Jewelry and Metals from the Lamar Dodd School of Art in 2019. Navarro spent his life up until coming to the University of Georgia in Illinois, where he was born on the south side of Chicago. He received two bachelor of arts degrees from Ball State University, one in drawing and painting and the other in visual arts with an emphasis in metals. The latter came as more of a surprise to him, as metalsmithing was a form entirely alien to him until the junior year of his undergraduate studies. Navarro’s current work focuses around his life as an inner-city, first-generation, Mexican-American boy. He cites subjects such as Mexican pride, Mexican drug culture, Catholicism and the current status of undocumented migrants in the U.S. His wish is to share these narratives more within the world of fine arts.

The objects in this virtual exhibition address key issues underlying the 2020 election and the American political landscape. Employing glass, fiber, ceramics, metal, wood and various other craft-based materials of everyday life, these 21 artists from across the U.S. use their media to voice concerns, point out injustice and inequity, and potentially instill hope for a better future. This exhibition evolved as a response to the social dilemmas and crisis that surged over the past year. Art can mirror what takes place in a society and it is often prophetic. Through the objects gathered for Democracy 2020, conversations are initiated, awareness can be raised, and perhaps, change can be forged.

Democracy 2020 exists as a digital exhibition and additionally, select works are displayed in the Craft in America Center’s public windows onto West Third Street in Los Angeles. These objects will be safely viewable from outside the space at all hours, day or night. The participating 21 artists were invited to explain, in their own words, what their objects mean to them, their impetus, and what they hope viewers will take away and keep in mind as we face voting in the next election.

From Navarro:

Recently, it has become a trend for people to learn more about their genealogy. I’ve heard many stories from those of European-descent about how older generations made their move to the United States from their origin countries. These stories are passed down from generation to generation and can be tracked down through genealogy records. The stories of Mexican immigrants are not as straight forward and in many cases, may not be recorded at all. I am shedding light on the journeys of these immigrants, examining how they became legal residents of the United States or how they still live as an illegal immigrants. These are the immigration stories I grew up with. I have depicted these narratives through Metalsmithing to give a glimpse into the journeys of Mexican immigrants today. Though they may differ from traditional stories of European immigration, the common ground they share is immigrating to the United States with the hope of creating a better life for themselves and their families. 

Image: Guadalupe Navarro, El Rio, 2019
Copper and brass; 8″ x 18″ x 18″
Photo courtesy of the artist.