Alanna Airitam: Black Diamonds: The Black Outlaw Bikers

William Camargo: The Sense of Brown

Juana Estrada Hernández: !Echale Ganas!

(left to right) Alanna Airitam, Roger Dat, Chosen Few Sin City, 2023, pigment print; William Camargo, Ya’ll Forget Who Worked Here, 2020, from the series “Origins and Displacements,” inkjet print; Juana Estrada Hernández, El Juego Americano 2, 2023, lithograph

January 24 – April 5, 2025

The Print Center is pleased to present three new solo exhibitions of recent work by Alanna Airitam (born Queens, NY; lives Tucson, AZ), William Camargo (born Anaheim, CA; lives Anaheim) and Juana Estrada Hernández (born Luis Moya, Zacatecas, Mexico; lives Providence, RI). The artists were awarded these exhibitions from the over 460 applicants to the 99th ANNUAL International Competition, juried by Drew Sawyer and Dr. Claudia Zapata. 

I am pleased that this year’s ANNUAL exhibitions feature artists living and making art in cities across the United States who have brought compelling perspectives and dynamic artworks to The Print Center. Chosen from the juror’s selection of ten Finalists, the work of three artists of differing backgrounds and ethnicities: Alanna Airitam, William Camargo and Juana Estrada Hernández confront myriad American myths through powerful portraits of Black motorcyclists, sly interventions into the landscape and meaningful interpretations of the immigrant experience

– Lauren Rosenblum, Jensen Bryan Curator

Programs

All of The Print Center’s exhibitions and programs are free and open to the public.

Gallery Talk + Opening Reception

Thursday, January 23, 5:30 – 7:30pm 

Artist Talk: William Camargo

Thursday, February 20, 6pm
On Zoom

Artist Talk: Juana Estrada Hernández

Thursday, March 6, 6pm
On Zoom

Artist Talk: Alanna Airitam

Thursday, March 20, 6pm
On Zoom

Alanna Airitam: Black Diamonds: The Black Outlaw Bikers

Alanna Airitam’s exhibition is the East Coast debut of her ambitious project “Black Diamonds.” The series features large-scale photographic portraits of members of the Chosen Few motorcycle club founded in 1959 – one of three historically significant Black outlaw clubs founded in that era. Initially organized as a Black biker club, with a code and dedication to brotherhood distinctly their own, the Chosen Few made the rare decision to integrate its membership during a time of legal segregation. This racial inclusivity remains a vital part of the club’s culture and their shared identity as members. 

Airitam is dedicated to securing the club members’ trust. Each figure is photographed against multiple backgrounds: the natural terrain of the motorcyclist’s home city or garage as well as a theatrical backdrop featuring a landscape inspired by 19th century Hudson River School painting. The intricate scenes of untamed wilderness inspired viewers of the time to consider the American landscape beyond civilization. Airitam conveys her sitters’ similar desire to explore the freedom of the open road.

The artist honors the Black outlaw motorcycle club’s place in American culture, which stands outside the dominant American Motorcycle Association. Airitam states, “My overarching objective is to illuminate their profound connections to the civil rights movement, the Black Panther Party, and broader American history, while striving to demystify their subculture and celebrate their invaluable cultural contributions. Moreover, I aim to initiate meaningful dialogues surrounding racial stereotypes within the outlaw motorcycle culture and examine the nuanced dynamics of freedom in motorcycle travel.” Read more in the Gallery Notes.

 

 

Alanna Airitam is a photo-based, conceptual artist who uses non-traditional materials and techniques to question contemporary and historical narratives. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, including at the New Orleans Museum of Art, LA; Phoenix Art Museum, AZ; Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence; San Diego Art Institute, CA; Torrance Art Museum, CA; and Center for Creative Photography and Tucson Museum of Art, both AZ; as well as at the Africa Foto Fair, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Her work is in the permanent collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; and the Center for Creative Photography and Tucson Museum of Art, among others. Airitam’s honors include an Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Opportunity Grant and San Diego Art Prize. She was a Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50 Finalist and was on the Silver Eye Center for Photography’s Silver List in 2021. Her work has been recognized in Artdoc Photography Magazine, BBC News, Chicago Tribune, GOTHAM Magazine and Lenscratch, among others. Airitam is the cofounder the Southwest Black Arts Collective

William Camargo: The Sense of Brown

William Camargo’s exhibition features performative photographs made over the last five years from several interrelated series. By centering his own body, Camargo strives to “negotiate the legacies and disempowerment of brown people in my hometown of Anaheim, California.” At the same time, as a person of color recreating works of famous photographers, he intervenes in historically exclusionary art histories and provides commentary on the history of photography.

Photographs from the “Origins and Displacement” series, 2018–2023, were primarily made during the period of intensive social unrest during the global pandemic. In them, Camargo poses with handmade signs covering his face and torso in solitary protest in front of buildings and other locations throughout the predominantly Hispanic and Latino city of Anaheim. The artist draws on research materials, such as newspapers, to recover these sites’ historical significance. Camargo stated, “I use my brown body to conduct these interventions. I use historical texts and contemporary stories to establish a connection in which the same injustices are repackaged through language and neoliberal policies.”

His impulse to revive suppressed social or political histories and to comment on standard art historical narratives is continued in his most recent work, in which Camargo restages photographs by well-known artists. In this work, he interrogates “a photographic history that continuously omits or tokenizes BIPOC and Queer perspectives in the medium,” especially observable in the portrait and landscape genres. Read more in the Gallery Notes.

 

 

William Camargo has a Professional Photography Certificate from Fullerton College, a BFA from California State University, Fullerton, and an MFA from Claremont Graduate University, all CA. Camargo has exhibited widely, including at the Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY; Cerritos College Art Gallery, CA; Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami, FL; Princeton University Art Museum, NJ; and The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, Riverside, CA. His work is held in collections including the Wright Museum of Art, Beloit College, WI; California State University, Fullerton; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, CA; and the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA. Camargo has had residencies at the Herron School of Art and Design; Center for Photography at Woodstock; The Latinx Project, New York University; Light Work; Penumbra Foundation and TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image. His monograph, We Been Here, was published in 2022. He is a photography lecturer at the University of California, San Diego and California State University, Fullerton.

Juana Estrada Hernández: !Echale Ganas!

Juana Estrada Hernández grew up hearing the Spanish phrase, “!Echale Ganas!” in her home. While the phrase does not have a direct translation, her family used it as an encouragement to “go for it,” “persevere,” and “give it your all,” to make it through trying times and pursue their dreams. The exhibition title refers to that family sentiment. It comprises a selection of prints and a monumental sculptural installation that speak directly to her family’s immigration story and center on the socio-political issues that arise from the US-Mexico borderlands. With “!Echale Ganas!,” the artist calls out to viewers with a message of encouragement and perseverance during a moment of renewed anti-immigration rhetoric and policy proposals.

Estrada Hernández arrived in Denver, CO, as a child and since then has sought out her family's intergenerational immigration stories. She creates bold lithographs and detailed etchings depicting these experiences, as well as Mexican and Mexican Americans' cultural and economic contributions to the United States. "My work," she has said, "pays homage to my Mexican culture, drawing on visual references from Mexican traditions, foods, and language. Within my artwork, I highlight the importance of holding on to one's own culture as a method of resistance, pride, and celebration."

The artist said, “I accept the responsibility to use my artwork and voice to advocate for and expose my audience to social-political issues that impact my community. Transformation in societal thought and immigration policies in the United States could mean living in a society without fear of family separation, providing opportunities to undocumented communities, and hope for a better world.” Read more in the Gallery Notes.

Juana Estrada Hernández has a BFA from Fort Hays State University, KS, and an MFA from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Tamarind Institute and University of New Mexico Art Museum, all Albuquerque; National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; Janet Turner Print Museum, Chico, CA; Cleveland Art Institute, OH; El Paso Museum of Art, TX; Print Center New York, NY; and Roswell Art Museum, NM. Collections holding her work include the University of New Mexico Printmaking Collection, Albuquerque; Chicago Printmakers Collaborative; Janet Turner Print Museum; Samek Art Museum, Lewisburg, PA; and New Mexico State Department of Cultural Affairs, Santa Fe; as well as Laval University, Quebec City; and National Library and Archives of Quebec, Montreal, Canada. She has received awards and residencies including the Bloom Artist Residency, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative; Elkard Artist-in-Residence, Bucknell University; Fulcrum Fund Grant, 516 Arts; International Artist Residency, Megalo Print Studios; and New Voices Program, Print Center New York. Estrada Hernández is Assistant Professor of Printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.

All images are courtesy of the Artists.