Exhibition curator Lowery Stokes Sims and Ana Elena Mallet discuss how the border serves as a catalyst for initiating social engagement and cultural dialogue for artists and designers working today. They elaborate on the process of curating The US-Mexico Border: Place, Imagination, and Possibility and explore some additional works featured at 516 ARTS and Albuquerque Museum, on view January 27–April 14, 2018.
ABOUT THE CURATORS:
Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims, recently named one of the Most Influential Curators by Artsy, is the retired Curator Emerita at the Museum of Arts and Design. She served as executive director then president of The Studio Museum in Harlem and was on the education and curatorial staff of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. A specialist in modern and contemporary art, she is known for her particular expertise in the work of African, Latino, Native and Asian American artists. She has published extensively, has lectured nationally and internationally and has guest curated numerous exhibitions around the world. Sims holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the Graduate School of the City University of New York and has received six honorary degrees.
Co-curator Ana Elena Mallet is a Mexico City-based independent curator specializing in modern and contemporary design. She curated Boutique at the Museo de Arte Carrillo, the first exhibition dedicated exclusively to fashion in a Mexican museum; ¡México, México! at the Musée International des Artes Modestes in Séte, France; and she co-curated Moderno: Design for Living in Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela, 1940–1978 at the Americas Society in New York. Mallet worked as a curator at the Museo Soumaya and Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, as deputy director of programming at the Museo Rufino Tamayo, and as chief curator at Museo del Objeto. She received a BA in Latin American Literature from the Universidad Iberoamericana and is pursuing an MA in Art History at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.