A new exhibition at California State University, Northridge (CSUN Art Galleries) invites audiences to see Los Angeles through the lens of seven local artists who bring deep, personal connections to the neighborhoods and communities they portray. The Journey is the Destination: Recording Los Angeles unearths the cultural histories of places that are often overlooked and underappreciated. The exhibition is on view through Thursday, Nov. 6.
Among the artists featured are CalArts alums Fía Benitez (Art MFA 21) and Vincent Enrique Hernandez (Art BFA 21).
Benitez debuts 13 new oil paintings from her series Myth of Origin, a project inspired by the discovery of her great-great-great uncle’s grave in East Los Angeles. Drawing from personal and public archives, she uses imagery from government documents, historical maps, and family photographs to examine how the colonial past continues to shape the present. The works connect political and familial histories while reflecting on the nonlinear process of tracing origin and belonging.
Hernandez, a lifelong resident of the San Fernando Valley, has spent years creating Valley Tours, an ongoing multimedia project that reexamines and celebrates a region often reduced to cultural clichés. At its center is the tour itself, with Hernandez guiding passengers in his Valley-themed Volvo. Through stories of history, local legends, and everyday life, he reveals the Valley’s overlooked richness. For The Journey is the Destination, Hernandez brings together souvenirs and highlights from his driving tours in a new installation that invites viewers to reconsider what is worthy of memory and appreciation.
Curated by Holly Jerger, the exhibition also features work by Aaron Douglas Estrada, Erick Medel, Debra Scacco, Pamela Smith Hudson, and Marisela Norte.
An opening reception for The Journey is the Destination: Recording Los Angeles will take place on Thursday, Sept. 11.
