March 20 through April 24, 2021
Extended to May 15, 2021
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 20, 5-8 pm
NELA/Cypress Park

Bermudez Projects is excited to present Ana Serrano | a sense of place, the artist’s second solo exhibition at the gallery.

At the age of 9, Ana Serrano and her mother moved from her grandparents’ home in South Los Angeles to Downey. In this autobiographical exhibition, Serrano engages the social, economic, cultural, aesthetic, and historical aspects of these communities through her brilliantly hued sculptures.

“Although my new home was only 10 miles away, it felt like a different world,” says Serrano. “I continued to move between these two places until my teenage years, spending weekends and breaks from school with my grandparents.”

She adds, “I credit the constant traveling within the neighborhoods of Southeast Los Angeles as the start of my interest in the built environment. It also gave me the lens with which I construct a sense of place, taking into account the [many] aspects of these communities. For this body of work, I examine the physical attributes that makes this community meaningful.”

This thoughtful exhibition juxtaposes the complex identities between the two ever-evolving communities of Downey and Southeast Los Angeles through architectural landmarks that have left a lasting impression.

With exacting precision and attention to detail, Ana Serrano has become widely known for her cardboard constructions of dwellings and urban landscapes. A first generation Mexican American, Serrano is inspired by the dual cultural contexts of her upbringing.

Utilizing cardboard, paper, wood, and acrylic, these artworks capture – with fantastic realism – the memory, emotions, and history associated with two iconic Los Angeles neighborhoods: Downey and South Los Angeles.

As Serrano says, “These works bear reference to those in low socioeconomic positions, with particular interest in the customs and beliefs, as well as the architecture, fashion, and informal economies present within this segment of society.”

Ana Serrano (b. 1983) earned her BFA from Art Center College of Design (2008). Her works have been exhibited in both solo and group museum shows, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Vincent Price Art Museum, and the National Museum of Mexican Art. Serrano’s sculptures are held in private and public collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), AltaMed Art Collection, Los Angeles, The Phyllis & Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art at Chapman University; and the Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach. She has been featured in various publications, including The Los Angeles, Times, KCET’s Artbound, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, American Style, Vogue (Mexico), In the Company of Women (Artisan Press, 2016), and The New York Times. Serrano currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.