FOR-SITE presents Blanka Amezkua At The Guardhouse, a new installation inside The Guardhouse at Fort Mason Center For Arts & Culture (FMCAC), on view from September 21, 2024 to January 19, 2025. The installation is free and open to the public, viewable through the windows 24 hours per day. The Guardhouse is located at the main entrance to FMCAC.

Free Admission

Blanka Amezkua is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York City. Amezkua’s art practice centers on the immigrant experience, her connection to her Mexican-born/Latinx American immigrant cultural roots, and blending ancestral wisdom with contemporary themes. Amezkua’s work at The Guardhouse celebrates indigenous, medicinal flowers found at Black Point Historic Gardens, a National Park Service (NPS) site adjacent to FMCAC.

Throughout her work, Amezkua uses the traditional Mexican paper-cutting technique, papel picado, often used in celebrations such as Day of the Dead, weddings, and religious festivities. The process entails stacking several layers of tissue paper to intricately craft designs employing chisels and a hammer. These banners are suspended by string, creating an immersive and visually captivating display titled Karnalitas de Oro: California Poppy & Cempasúchil (2024) within The Guardhouse.

Amezkua, in collaboration with papel picado maestro Rene Mendoza, aims to bridge folk art with contemporary issues and expand the expressive possibilities of this cherished technique. The California poppy and Cempasúchil plant, or Mexican marigold, play center roles in the installation depicting various growth stages of each flower in the papel picado.

“The California poppy was established as the state flower in 1903, and its image has become a signature of a love for the outdoors […] and a symbol of hope for conservation across the state,” writes Dr. Adriana Hernandez, Associate Director for Research at Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ‘Ootchamin ‘Ooyakma. “The Cempasúchil plant fills the air with a sweet earthy scent that makes one full of “esperanza” (hope in Spanish). These blooms ultimately represent transformation of a greater order.”

Karnalitas de Oro: California Poppy & Cempasúchil (2024) serves as a reminder of tradition and the natural habitat surrounding The Guardhouse while acknowledging the ancient and current cultural heritage existing at the site and its surrounding area, including the traditional territory of the Yelamu, a local tribe of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. This unceded Yelamu territory was later occupied as a military outpost by the Spanish Empire, the Mexican Republic, and the U.S. Army; and is today, an NPS site.

ABOUT THE ARTIST. Blanka Amezkua is‌ ‌a Mexican-born/Latinx American immigrant artist, ‌cultural‌ ‌promoter,‌ ‌educator,‌ ‌and‌ ‌project‌ ‌creator based‌ ‌in New York City, and has exhibited at MoMA PS1, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Queens Museum, El Museo del Barrio, Taller Boricua, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, San Diego Art Institute, Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Galeria La Encantada, The Delaware Contemporary, and Art Base in Brussels, among others. Amezkua’s ‌practice‌ ‌is‌ ‌greatly‌ ‌influenced‌ ‌and‌ ‌informed‌ ‌by‌ ‌folk‌ ‌art‌ ‌and‌ ‌popular‌ ‌culture, and in‌ ‌2008‌ ‌she‌ ‌began‌ ‌an‌ ‌artist-run‌ ‌project‌ ‌in‌ ‌her‌ ‌bedroom‌ ‌called‌ ‌the‌ ‌Bronx‌ ‌Blue‌ ‌Bedroom‌ ‌Project‌ ‌(BBBP), which ‌ran‌ ‌from‌ ‌2008-2010.‌ Amezkua currently‌ ‌operates‌ ‌‌AAA3A‌‌‌ (Alexander‌ ‌Avenue‌ ‌Apartment‌ ‌3A)‌ ‌an‌ ‌alternative‌ ‌artist-run‌ ‌space ‌which‌ ‌offers‌ ‌food,‌ ‌dialogue,‌ ‌workshops,‌ ‌and‌ ‌art‌ ‌in‌ ‌her‌ ‌living‌ ‌room.‌ She is an active member of ‌Running‌ ‌for‌ ‌Ayotzinapa‌ ‌43,‌ ‌an‌ ‌international‌ ‌community‌ ‌of‌ runners‌ ‌based‌ ‌in‌ ‌NYC‌ ‌that‌ ‌promotes‌ ‌dialogue‌ ‌and‌ ‌consciousness‌ ‌concerning‌ ‌human‌ ‌rights‌ ‌violations‌ ‌worldwide.‌ ‌Mentions‌ ‌of‌ ‌her‌ ‌work‌ ‌and‌ ‌projects‌ ‌can‌ ‌be‌ ‌found‌ ‌in‌ ‌various‌ ‌notable‌ ‌national‌ ‌and‌ ‌international‌ ‌publications.‌.

About FOR-SITE. Established in 2003, FOR-SITE is dedicated to the creation, understanding, and presentation of art about place. For more information, visit: FOR-SITE.org.

About The Guardhouse Program. The Guardhouse Program is designed to serve three artists annually, directly supporting the year-round creation, presentation, and understanding of art about place. Each artist activates the former military guard station with a temporary art installation responding to the natural and cultural significance of the site and its surrounding area. The Guardhouse Program launched through an open call for proposals in 2023.

Blanka Amezkua At The Guardhouse is presented by FOR-SITE in partnership with Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. The Guardhouse Program is made possible thanks to generous support from the ARB Fund.

Image Credits — Photos by Meredith Mashburn