As part of an ongoing pursuit of social justice and in response to today’s cultural climate, San Diego Art Institute (SDAI) in Balboa Park will debut its newest art exhibit Forging Territories: Queer Afro and Latinx Contemporary Art. 

This thought-provoking exhibit is among the first of its kind to explore and highlight conversations around underrepresented African American and Latinx artists identifying as LGBTQ. Purposefully launching during PRIDE Month and only one day after the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising—considered the seminal event leading to the modern LGBTQ movement—Forging Territories will showcase rarely-told stories of personal and cultural awakening through artists’ responses to sense of identity and place, the influence of the current political moment and the comfort of shared background, language and history. Forging Territories is curated by Rubén Esparza, founder and director of the Queer Biennial, an international art fair anchored in Los Angeles with satellites in New York, Mexico, Miami, Paris and Zurich.

Says Esparza: “Through Forging Territories we will be able to tell a much fuller story of voices that are not as frequently heard within the world of art and culture.” 
This exhibit will bring together twenty legacy, established, mid-career and emerging contemporary artists—all who live within the region—who work in such varied mediums as painting, drawing, photography, film and performance. Examples of the featured artists are: Photographer Laura Aguilar, included in the Venice Biennial and the permanent collection of the New Museum in New York City; Painter and printmaker Carlos Almaraz, the subject of a recent retrospective at LACMA and included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum; Performance artist Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter; Photographer Texas Isaiah, shown at The Studio Museum in Harlem and The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and hailed as one of Time’s 12 African American Photogaphers You Should Follow Right Now (alongside Forging Territories artist Devin Morris) Photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya, included in this year’s Whitney Biennial; and Visual artist dana washington, a rising Southern California artist and 2020 MFA student at UCSD

Forging Territories opens to the public on Saturday, June 29 with an opening reception from 7 to 9 p.m. and will then be open Tuesday through Sunday between 12 and 5 p.m. through November 3.