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Antes De Mi/ Before Me, Arleene Correa Valencia


  • Pacific Northwest College of Art 511 Northwest Broadway Portland, OR, 97209 United States (map)

February 2 - April 15, 2023

Location: Dane Nelson and Ed Cauduro Collection Studies Lab - PNCA, 511 NW Broadway

Instagram: @ccac_pnca

Contact: Hannah Bakken, Assistant Director CCAC, hbakken@willamette.edu

Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10am - 4pm

Artist Talk: February 2nd – 12:30-1:30pm, PNCA Mediateque

Public Reception (Artist in Attendance): February 2nd – 5-8pm

(Portland, OR) The Center for Contemporary Art & Culture at PNCA is pleased to share with the Portland community Antes De Mi/ Before Me, a solo exhibition of new prints by Arleene Correa Valencia, published by and exhibited in partnership with Mullowney Printing Company through the Federico Sevilla Sierra Printmaking Residency Program.

Exhibition Statement:

Through this series of photogravures Arleene Correa Valencia attempts to draw a timeline of her family’s history dating back to the union of her paternal grandparents, who now play a significant role in the way that the artist connects to her native heritage.

One by one, each photogravure reveals a part of her family’s story that has ultimately led to her migration to the United States, where she would confront the hardships of being an undocumented immigrant. Growing up as an undocumented recipient of DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Correa Valencia observed that much of the family’s past had been lost or erased as a way to seamlessly assimilate and ultimately protect them from being discovered as “illegal.”

This series merges together photographs and text that were exchanged between Correa Valencia and her father in 1996 when she was separated from him, as he was the first parent to leave Mexico and embark on his journey to the U.S.

Arleene Correa Valencia combines etchings of traditional Mexican images, family photos, embroidery and beading to sew together stories that span multiple generations.

 These pieces aim to illustrate a family’s survival through the political unrest between the United States and Latin America.

Artist Bio:

Arleene Correa Valencia is a native Mexican artist whose work is kindled by the complexities of her undocumented migration to the United States. Through the use of various mediums, including textiles, social practice, and painting, she explores the nuances of migration, visibility, invisibility, borders, and family separation. Having lived in the United States for more than 25 years as a self-described registered illegal alien, she draws from her own emotions of feeling invisible to deconstruct the language and ideas that are assigned to all migrants. Correa Valencia received a BFA and MFA from California College of the Arts. She is an inaugural recipient of the Bay Area Fellowship at Headlands Center for the Arts and was featured in the Emmy award winning Portraits of Napa Workers: Arleene Correa Valencia, part of KQED Arts’ Represent series of artist profiles. In 2021, Correa Valencia was the subject of a solo monographic exhibition, Llévame Contigo, Yo Quiero Estar Contigo, at the Trout Museum of Art in Appleton, WI. She had her first solo exhibition at Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco in 2022. Correa Valencia will be featured in a forthcoming group exhibition at the Berkeley Art Center in 2023. Born in Arteaga, Mexico and based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Correa Valencia is represented by Catharine Clark Gallery.

About Mullowney Printing Company:

As a multi-faceted print studio, Mullowney Printing focuses on publishing and printing etchings, woodcuts, photogravure, direct gravure, screen prints and letterpress editions by leading contemporary artists. The studio also runs community workshops, internships, residencies and public exhibitions.

In honor of Mexican printer Federico Sevilla Sierra, the Federico Sevilla Sierra Printmaking Residency aims to preserve traditional printmaking practices by offering artists living and working in Mexico space and support to create work, while building bridges between creative communities in Portland and Mexico.

Invited artists to the program are given studio space at Mullowney Printing, along with support, assistance, and freedom to develop print related projects, leading to exhibition and publishing opportunities. Residency projects last from two to four weeks during which time the artists will work in collaboration with the studio team of master printers and apprentices. Resident artists are provided with dedicated studio space, twenty-four-hour access, and the program supports travel, accommodation, honorarium, per diem, and supplies. The program also focuses on partnering with Portland community institutions to promote printmaking education in Portland through lectures, workshops, community engagement and youth outreach.

To learn more about this program, please visit www.undergrowthprint.org

About CCAC and PNCA:

The Center for Contemporary Art & Culture is a platform for cultural production including exhibition, lecture, performance, and publication. Housed within Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), the Center throws open its doors to the greater public to foster conversation and community.

Pacific Northwest College of Art is the leading professional arts and design school in the Northwest; we are the heartbeat of learning and experimentation in Portland’s vibrant cultural ecosystem. We spark curiosity and sharpen skills so students can build creative careers anchored in innovation, justice and civic imagination.

A warm thank you to Stelo Arts for working with us to host Arleene Correa Valencia.