The term “archive” is both superlatively accurate and totally insufficient to describe the transformational, interdisciplinary appeal of art by Guadalupe Rosales, which is about as far from papers, folders, and filing cabinets as an archive can get. In her energetic and community-minded pursuit of cultural narrative and the preservation of often-excluded histories (like the fierce, joyful Latinas of the 90’s rave music lifestyle), has created a multiverse of archival manifestations. At her Instagram accounts @veteranas_and_rucas and @map_pointz, Rosales assembles publicly sourced images and videos to celebrate and preserve personal and collective histories. In her hybridized sculptural environments — such as the breathtaking contribution to the Hammer Museum Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living biennial — the contents and energies of these inventive legacies are given exuberant, immersive life as Rosales engineers immersive spaces brimming with symbols of queer, ancestral, interpreted, and imagined worlds.
Shana Nys Dambrot: What would you be doing if you weren’t an artist?
Guadalupe Rosales: Dead. Art saved my life.
Did you go to art school? Why/Why not?
I am a high school dropout but was fortunate to really push myself and meet people who saw me. When I moved to NYC that is where I realized I could call myself an artist and take it seriously. Because many people I knew in NYC actually went to school for it. That is where I learned it can be a career. So in 2014 my mentor and friend Gregg Bordowitz invited me to apply for an MFA program at SAIC. Long story short, I was offered a full scholarship and received my MFA in 2016. No diploma, yes MFA.
Why do you live and work in L.A., and not elsewhere?
This is my life and my world.
When is/was your current/most recent/next show or project?
Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living at the Hammer Museum. And I just opened a three-person show at SFMoMA, and I got a book deal with Random House One World; the book is to be published in 2024.
Do you listen to music while you work?
Goth, Corridos, oldies, house, shoegaze.
Website & Socials:
commonwealthandcouncil.com/us/guadalupe-rosales
