Carmen Argote is one of the 13 artists whose work is on view in Mi Tierra: Contemporary Artists Explore Place. When Argote first visited our museum, she was struck by the proliferation of nearby multiuse spaces and live/work condominiums or rentals. She lives and works in an open space in Los Angeles. A metal articulated wall separates her studio from her personal living area to create a functional space that in many ways has the allure of the new construction she encountered in Denver. Both sides of Argote’s divider wall are feathered with layers of paperwork, family photos, invitations, drawings made by her young relatives, and artwork by Argote and her friends, as well as various correspondence.
Below is an excerpt of an interview with Argote, which will appear in the catalog that accompanies the exhibition:
Live/Work is a map, it’s a portrait, it’s a functional object, it’s a sculpture and it’s a divider but not a divider. I like things not to land in one category because it’s in their changes that they become really interesting. When you can’t easily point to it and name what it is, when it fluctuates as you try to define it, then it opens up the opportunity to see things differently. That’s something I’m drawn to: things that flip, that switch as you’re looking at them. That’s where the art is. It’s not inherently tied to the object but it’s in that flip in your perception where the meaning is derived."
