Archive Talks: Felix Quintana in conversation with Michelle Montenegro

June 13, 2024 | 6:30pm TO 8:30pm

Conversation

Join us for a conversation between Felix Quintana and Michelle Montenegro, artist and co-curator of Fotos y Recuerdos: Guatemala in Los Ángeles.

Felix F. Quintana (b. Lynwood, CA, 1991) is a Salvadoran-American artist, photographer, and educator. Quintana’s multidisciplinary practice spans photography, digital media, collage, drawing, and installation. Michelle Montenegro (she/her/ella) is a Los Angeles-based mixed-media artist. Her work is informed by the social and historical contexts that influence the various layers of her identity and experiences.

This conversation activates the Fotos y Recuerdos exhibition, exploring the importance of community image making and archives. The exhibition features over 100 personal photographs submitted by community members who are part of the Guatemalan diaspora in Los Angeles, the largest community of its kind outside of Guatemala. Alongside the community archive are original photographs, personal family archives and installations by Michelle Montenegro, an LA based Guatemalan American photographer and Las Fotos alumni.

Doors open at 6:30pm to see the exhibition before the event begins at 7pm. The conversation will include an audience Q&A.

About the Artists

Felix Quintana

Portrait of a young person in glasses with their hair pulled back smiling into the camera. Wearing a black shirt and necklace.

Michelle Montenegro

Felix F. Quintana (b. Lynwood, CA, 1991) is a Salvadoran-American artist, photographer, and educator. Quintana’s multidisciplinary practice spans photography, digital media, collage, drawing, and installation. Quintana received an MFA in Photography from San Jose State University (2021) and a BA in Art from California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (2014). Solo projects include Fantasma Paraiso (2024) presented by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (2024), Cruising Below Sunset, Residency Art Gallery (2022), and Los Angeles Blueprints, Somarts Cultural Center (2019). Select group exhibitions include Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, Vincent Price Art Museum, Center for Photography, Woodstock, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, LA><ART, and SFSU University Gallery, among many others.

Quintana’s work has been published in NPR, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, KCET Artbound, and ArtNews. His work is held in the permanent collections of Oakland Museum of California, Altamed Art Collection, and Cal Poly Humboldt. Awards include the Los Angeles Nomadic Division Mohn LAND Grant (2023), LACE Lightning Fund Grant (2023), and Lucas Artist Fellowship at Montalvo Arts Center (2023-26). Quintana has taught and lectured at numerous institutions, including UCLA, SFAI, CSU Monterey Bay, UC Santa Cruz, Hammer Museum, and California African American Museum. Quintana lives, works, and teaches in Los Angeles, CA.

https://felixquintana.com

Michelle Montenegro(she/her/ella) is a Los Angeles-based mixed-media artist. Her work is informed by the social and historical contexts that influence the various layers of her identity and experiences. In this approach, Michelle’s work focuses on issues relating to capitalism, migration, family ties, and intergenerational trauma within communities of color. Through honest storytelling and the photographic perspective, she aims to redistribute power to her subjects and communities.

Michelle is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California majoring in Non-governmental Organizations and Social Change and minoring in Law and Public Policy. Her goal is to pursue a Masters in Urban Planning at USC’s Price School of Public Policy. She is a Las Fotos Project alumni and current mentor. In 2023, Michelle was recognized as the recipient of the Las Fotos Project Foto Awards’ Youth Advocacy Award for her use of photojournalism towards community advocacy and social justice efforts.