ON VIEW:
January 16 - April 27, 2024
Jay Lynn Gomez
Last Look, 2023
acrylic on magazine
11 x 8.5 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles
© Jay Lynn Gomez
Labor of Love
Featured Artists: Tania Candiani, Tannaz Farsi, Jay Lynn Gomez, Midori Hirose, Charlene Liu, Alberto Lule, Narsiso Martinez, and Patrick Martinez
The artists featured in Labor of Love produce work that aims to expose and highlight labor practices that have been historically and systematically concealed from the public sphere. Working across a wide variety of media and using a range of conceptual approaches, the eight artists exhibited here seek to explore that which is often hidden just under the surface or kept at arm’s length: the physical, emotional, and intellectual labor that is vital to the smooth and ongoing function of innumerable aspects of our everyday lives.
Hidden, unseen, or invisible labor is work that goes unnoticed, unacknowledged, and thus, unregulated, and that is too often unpaid or poorly paid. Invisible labor is often performed by people who belong to marginalized groups, including migrants and refugees, women, nonbinary and gender nonconforming individuals, people of color, and people of lower socioeconomic status. Those who perform invisible labor are further marginalized by the sheer fact that their work isn’t seen, properly compensated, or acknowledged. In its many forms, hidden labor has ripple effects: much of what we consume every day—the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the content we watch and read—is made available to us through the time, energy, and often backbreaking labor of unidentified individuals we will never meet.
The artists in Labor of Love strive to tell stories that have been purposefully hidden. In doing so, they reveal problematic aspects of our public narratives and confront issues of systemic racism, immigration, class inequality, and gender discrimination. Collectively, they believe that to ameliorate the burdens of invisible labor, that labor must be made visible: only then can its inequities be addressed. Their actions endeavor to reveal what has been kept out of sight, and to celebrate, acknowledge, and empower the individuals and groups whose stories they have chosen to tell.
Labor of Love is curated by Alexandra Terry, Curator of Contemporary Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe. Support for this exhibition provided by The Ford Family Foundation, the Richard & Helen Phillips Charitable Fund and the Exhibition Circle.
Brochure
Labor of Love-JSMA-brochure V7 PRINT.pdfPlease take a look at the exhibition brochure.
Written content by Alexandra Terry. Designed by Heather Lee Birdsong. All images courtesy of the artists.
Featured Works
Patrick Martinez and Jay Lynn Gomez, Labor of Love, 2022, Stucco, neon, ceramic, acrylic paint, spray paint, latex house paint, family archive photos, ceramic tile and led signs on panel; Acrylic on cardboard, fabric, 60 x 120 inches, Courtesy of the artists and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, © Patrick Martinez and Jay Lynn Gomez.
Tannaz Farsi, the bridge on which conditions can pass. 2023, steel, powder coat, print on vellum, concrete, 78 x 60 x 24 inches, Courtesy of the artist, © Tannaz Farsi
Midori Hirose, Nut Here Rock Mirror 2, 2021, Reconstituted refuse plastic, 17 x 12 x 6 inches, Courtesy of the artist, © Midori Hirose
Jay Lynn Gomez, Olympia taking a break, Circa. 2015, Acrylic on magazine, 15 x 12 inches, Loan courtesy of Laura Grigsby, © Jay Lynn Gomez
Charlene Liu, China Palace (detail), 2023, prints, cardboard, paper, ink, paint, Dimensions variable, Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon,
© Charlene Liu
Narsiso Martinez, Sunday Morning II, 2019, Ink, Gouache, and Charcoal on Produce box, 33 x 44 inches, Loan courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum, gift of Anonymous, 2019.82, © Narsiso Martinez
Past Events + Programs
Saturday, February 3
Exhibition Tour
1:00-2:00 pm
JSMA at PSU is pleased to present a public tour of Labor of Love. Led by museum staff, the tour will cover highlights of the exhibition.
This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.*
Saturday, February 10
Storytime
11:00 am-12:30 pm
Join us for Storytime with Latoya Lovely. Inspired by JSMA at PSU’s current exhibition Labor of Love, Lovely will read stories celebrating workers, and exploring culture and community to children and their guardians.
This program is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.
This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.*
Tuesday, February 20
Art in Conversation:
Jay Lynn Gomez
5:30-6:30 pm
The museum is excited to host a gallery conversation with Labor of Love featured artist Jay Lynn Gomez, moderated by PSU students from La Casa Latina Student Center. The discussion will explore the artist’s life and work, focusing on themes related to labor, class, representation, and visibility within existing capitalist systems.
This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.*
Saturday, March 2
Exhibition Tour
1:00-2:00 pm
JSMA at PSU is pleased to present a public tour of Labor of Love. Led by museum staff, the tour will cover highlights of the exhibition.
This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.*
Wednesday, March 6
Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize Reception
5:00-7:00 pm
Join the School of Art + Design in celebrating the work of our 2023 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize recipients: Ashley Yang-Thompson, (MFA candidate in Studio Practice), Ash Kukuzke (BFA candidate in Graphic Design), and Mohabbat Khatibnia-Mansouri (BFA in Art Practice, ‘23). Remarks will begin at 5:30 PM.
This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.*
Thursday, March 7
Panel Discussion
5:30–6:30 pm
JSMA at PSU is pleased to host a panel discussion with Labor of Love featured artists Tannaz Farsi, Midori Hirose, and Charlene Liu. The event will be moderated by exhibition curator Alexandra Terry, Curator of Contemporary Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe. Panelists will discuss their work, which aims to unearth, expose, and highlight hidden and unseen labor that has been historically and systematically concealed from the public sphere.
This program is free and open to the public.
Saturday, March 9
Storytime
11:00 am-12:30 pm
Join us for Storytime with Latoya Lovely. Inspired by JSMA at PSU’s current exhibition Labor of Love, Lovely will read stories celebrating workers, and exploring culture and community to children and their guardians.
This program is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.
This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.*
Saturday, April 6
Exhibition Tour
1:00-2:00 pm
JSMA at PSU is pleased to present a public tour of Labor of Love. Led by museum staff, the tour will cover highlights of the exhibition.
This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.*
Tuesday, April 9
Conversation with Narsiso Martinez
2:30-3:30 pm
The museum is pleased to host a conversation with Narsiso Martinez, whose work is on view in our exhibition Labor of Love. Martinez and Estela Garzón, JSMA at PSU Gallery Coordinator, will discuss the artist's practice which sheds light on the labor-intensive work by farmworkers in America, specifically those who have migrated from Central and South America to work in agriculture. Drawing on his personal experiences as a farmworker, Martinez raises questions about labor, racial economics, and fair compensation.
This program is free and open to the public. To request ASL interpretation, please contact jsma@pdx.edu by Friday, April 5.*
Saturday, April 13
Storytime
11:00 am-12:30 pm
Join us for Storytime with Latoya Lovely. Inspired by JSMA at PSU’s current exhibition Labor of Love, Lovely will read stories celebrating workers, and exploring culture and community to children and their guardians.
This program is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.
This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.*
Tuesday, April 23
Ashley Yang-Thompson Reading
1:00-2:00 pm
Join JSMA at PSU for a reading by Ashley Yang-Thompson, Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize recipient. She will share excerpts from her book The Pedagogical Philosophy of Ash Yang-Thompson which is in a Perpetual State of Flux. Participants will also have the chance to engage with her artwork on view!
This program is free and open to the public. To request ASL interpretation, please contact jsma@pdx.edu by Friday, April 19.