CV
Carmen Argote
b. 1981 in Guadalajara, México
Carmen Argote is a multidisciplinary artist who works through the act of inhabiting a space. Argote’s practice is in conversation with the site she is working from, often pointing to the body, to class, and to economic structures in relationship to the architecture and to personal history.
Argote is represented by Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles
Education
2007 MFA, University of California, Los Angeles
2004 BA, University of California, Los Angeles
Residencies
2025 Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
2021 ArtYard, Frenchtown, NJ
2020 Stairwell LA, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Casa Taller Joe Clemente Orozco/Paos, Guadalajara, MX
2019 LaunchPad LaB, La Boissière, FR
2009 Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Madison, ME
Selected Works in Collection
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, Museum of Contemporary Art, San DIego, CA, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, Kadist International, Mohn Art Collective (MAC3)
Guest Speaker Invitations
Art Center College of Art and Design, Buckinghamshire New University, California Institute of the Arts, California State University Long Beach, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Otis College of Art and Design, Princeton University, Southern California Institute of Architecture, Stanford University, University of California Los Angeles, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Southern California, University of Texas Austin, University of Texas Rio Grande
Awards
2024 Independent Master Artist Award, City of Los Angeles
2024 Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Lighting Fund Grant
2023 Cultural Trailblazer, City of Los Angeles
2020 Fellows of Contemporary Art
2019 Tiffany Foundation Grant
2019 Artadia Los Angeles Award
2018 Nancy Graves Foundation Artist Grant
2015 YoYoYo Grant, Rema Hort Mann Foundation
2013 Emerging Artist Grant, California Community Foundation
Solo Exhibitions
2025
gajes del oficio, Pitzer College Art Galleries, Claremont, CA
2024
Holding, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
2023
I won’t abandon you, I see you, we are safe, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
2022
Filtration System for a Processed-based Practice, Museum of Contemporary Art, San DIego, CA
Her Forms of Other, Commonwealth and Council, Mexico City, MX
2021
Be Loved, Primary, Nottingham, UK
2020
Glove Hand Dog, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
Hand Dog Glove, Clockshop, Los Angeles, CA
Dog Glove Hand, Stairwell LA, Los Angeles, CA
Me At Market, Visual Arts Center, University of Texas, Austin
2019
As Above, So Below, New Museum, New York, NY
Nutrition for a Better life (Compre Chatarra), Ballon Rouge, Istanbul, Turkey Manéjese Con Cuidado, PAOS, Guadalajara, Mexico
2018
Warm is a Black, Ballon Rouge Collective, New York, NY
Deterioro y Poder (two person exhibition), Instituto de Vision, Bogota, Colombia
The artist, having used all her money to make her work, lives in the mother mold of her sculpture, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
If only it were that easy…, 18th Street Arts Center Artist Lab, Santa Monica, CA
2017
Pyramids, Panel LA, Los Angeles, CA
2016
Alex’s Room, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA Mansion Magnolia, Shulamit Nazarian, Venice, CA
2015
Houses he wanted to build, Adjunct Positions, Los Angeles, CA
A Vast Furniture, MAK Center & High Desert Test Sites, Los Angeles/29 Palms, CA
2014
My father’s side of Home, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
2013
720 Sq.ft. Shape Seeps Through, Vincent Price Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2010
720 Sq.ft. Household Mutations, G727, Los Angeles, CA
Public Art Commissions
2016-2017 Workbook/Notebook, Armory Center for the Arts at La Casita, Pasadena, CA
2016 Metro Expo Line (17th St/SMC Station), Santa Monica, CA
Group Exhibitions
2025
Does the flower hear the Bee?, Shanghai Biennale, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
To Bright Disturbances, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
Hold My Hand in Yours, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
City of Los Angeles Independent Master Artist Award exhibition (COLA 2025), Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Grounded, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Galleon Trade, Silverlens Gallery, NYC, NY
Transgresoras: Mail Art and Messages, 1960s–2020s, California Museum of Photography (UCR), Riverside, CA
2024
Experimentation: The Art of Controlled Procedures, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery,
Los Angeles, CA
Flow States – LA TRIENAL, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
Mis/Communication: Power in Language in Contemporary Art, Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY
2023
La Vida Secreta de las piedras, Commonwealth and Council, Mexico City, MX
Illuminate LA: Artist Reflections on Monuments and Public Space, Los Angeles, CA
2022
Schindler House: 100 Years in the Making, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
No Forms, Hill Art Foundation, New York, NY
Shadow Tracer: Works on Paper, Aspen Museum of Art, Aspen, CO
Artist Reflections on Public Monuments and Public Space, Illuminate LA, Los Angeles, CA
2021
Evidence: Selections from the Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Everything Connected, Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
6 Degrees, Liebaert Projects, Kortrijk, Belgium
Everything Just Changed, No?, Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Love in Bright Landscapes, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth, WA
2020
45 at 45: 45 years with 45 artists, L.A. Louver, Venice, CA
Hindsight is 2020, Cerritos College Art Gallery, Cerritos, CA
2019
Searching the Sky for Rain, Sculpture Center, Long Island City, NY
Paroxysm of Sublime, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
Breaking Bread, Oxy Arts, Los Angeles, CA
“CALL GIOVANNI”, Revolver Gallery, Lima, Peru
Dialogues, ARCOmadrid, Instituto de Vision, Madrid, Spain
Room for Failure, Piero Atchugarry Gallery, Miami, FL
Monarchs, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS
2018
In/Situ, EXPO Chicago, Chicago, IL
Made in L.A. 2018, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
The House Imaginary, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Extracorporeal, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA
Names Printed in Black, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
Omega Workshop, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Project Space, New York, NY
Pacific Standard Time Performance Festival, REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA
Monarchs, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
2017
Monarchs, Bemis Center for the Arts, Omaha, NE
Tierra.Sangre.Oro. Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX
Home—So Different, So Appealing, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA and Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX
Mi Tierra: Contemporary Artists Explore Place, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
“Building As Ever, Pacific Triennial,”Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California.
Escape Attempts, Shulamit Nazarian Gallery, Venice, CA
2016
PlaceBound, Nan Rae Gallery, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA On Inhabiting, Ave 50 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015
En La Espera, Me Fui Y Luego Regrese, Mexican Consulate, Los Angeles, CA
The House on Mango Street, The National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
Perfect Strangers Art & Performance Festival, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
2014
5th Chicana/o Biennial, MACLA, San Jose, CA
Watermelons, no catchies or bouncies, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA Million Year Picnic, Gallery Fu, Japan
Ex nihilo, Eastside International, Los Angeles, CA
Unsparing Quality, Diane Rosenstein Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
2013
SUR Biennial, Rio Hondo College, Torrance, CA
SUR Biennial, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
First Anniversary Show, Diane Rosenstein Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
2010
Surface Tension_LA, G727, Los Angeles, CA
2009
Birds, Michael’s Restaurant, Santa Monica, CA
2008
Terra-Byte 3.0, Los Angeles County Arboretum, Arcadia.
Words and Publications
Gyorody, Andrea, Carmen Argote, ArtForum, November, 2023
Piejko, Jennifer, The mess and playfulness of relationships runs through Carmen Argote’s ICA LA show, September 7, 2023
Dove, Linda, Cultural Daily August, 2023
Simoñ-Trench, Chela, “Artist Spotlight: Carmen Argote” Gallery Platform, July 2023
Duyao, Justin, “At MCASD, Carmen Argote redfines her art and herself” San Diego Union Tribune, October 11, 2022
Dixon Evans, Julia, “The Art is in the process for Carmen Argote” KPBS, August 25, 2022
Lugo, Helena, Remaking, “Re-mother, and Transformation” Terremoto, October 20, 2022
Gyorody, Andrea, “How I Made This: Carmen Argote Prints from Pizza and Health Bars,” ArtnewsFebruary 23, 2021
Wolf, Jessica, ‘The LA Art Show has a strong UCLA vibe” July, 2021
Gyorody, Andrea, Thoughts on Food Material Carmen Argote, (Digest, Issue 06}, September, 2020
Campbell, Andy. “Carmen Argote: Commonwealth and Council,” Artforum, October/November, 2020
Haigney, Sophie, “A Fresh Vision for Minimalism Foregrounds Female Artists” Artsy, October, 2020
Turner, Nancy Kay, “Artist Profile: Carmen Argote,” Art and Cake, August 18, 2020
Di Liscia, Valentina, “How LatinX Artists Were Shut Out of Art History” Hyperallergic, August, 2020
Civic Imagination: Southland Sessions, Screening of Last Light, KCET, 2020
Carmen Argote: Film Premiere and Edition Launch, ParisLA, 2020
Almino, Elisa Wouk, “Walking :A’s Empty Streets During the Covid 19 Pandemic.” Hyperallergic, July 14, 2020
Castro, Leslie Moody, “Me at Market: Talking with Carmen Argote.” Glasstire, March 2, 2020
Duron, Maximiliano. “Economics of Art and Avocados: Carmen Argote Transplants the world to the New Museum in NY,” Artnews, January 3, 2020
Arrendondo, Ariana, “Artist talks new piece in the Visual Arts Center, abstraction, insects as material,” The Daily Texan, January 31, 2020
Gutierrez, Laura G. “Resonating Drips in Carmen Argote’s Pockets,” Visual Arts Center, University of Texas at Austin, January, 2020
Loiseau, Benoit. “For Carmen Argote, Avocados are a paint and a powerful metaphor,” Frieze, October 21, 2019
Dambrot, Shana Nys. “Meet an Artist,” LA Weekly, April 15, 2019
Wexler, Alisha, “Carmen Argote’s New Museum Solo Show Will Make You Think of Home,” Observer, September 29, 2019
Gerwin, Daniel. “An Artist Asserts Control Over the Commodification of Her Work,” Hyperallergic, August 2, 2018
Chiara Giovando, Carmen Argote. The Economics of an Exhibition. Printed on the occasion of Made in LA, 2018
Chang, Scarlett. “Carmen Argote: Riding it Out.” Artillery Magazine, May 1, 2018
Jao, Carren. “A Motorcycle Journey Leads to Healing.” KCET Artbound, 2018
Choksi, Neha, “Utensils: Working Small,” X-TRA, Summer, 2018
Albarracin, Victor. “Houses, Mansions, and Pyramids.” Terremoto Magazine, 2017
Slenske, Michael. “Hecho en México, Made for LA.” LALA Magazine, 2017
Ingram, Kerry, “The Artist Brings Her Home into the Museum: Carmen Argote &”720 Sq. Ft.,” The Museum of FIne Arts Houston, December 22, 2017
ArtMetoPolis, 2017
Quinn, Patrick. “Reality and Imagination: Three Unique Shows at the Armory in Pasadena” Art and Cake, December 30, 2016
Wagley, Catherine. Best up-and coming artist, LA Weekly Best of LA 2016
Khoshgozaran, Gelare. “Porous Identification, Radical Transformation and Immigrant Imagination: in the works of Carmen Argote”, contemporary.org, 2016
Yates, Calder. “Carmen Argote: Mansion Magnolia at Shulamit Nazarian,” DailyServing, 2016
Slenske, Michael. “Empty House: Carmen Argote Delves Into Family History for her latest Exhibition,” Wallpaper, 2016
Personal Architecture, Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies. Volume 41, Spring, 2016
Zeller, Heidi, The Source: Art for the Expo Line: Installation at 17th Street/SMC Station, April, 2015
Merino, Amalia M.. The Source: Sneak peek into fabrication process for artwork at Expo Line’s 17th Street/SMC Station, December, 2014
Fragoza, Carribean. “Migrant Blueprints: Carmen Argote and the Perpetual Construction of Home,” Artbound/KCET, July, 2014
Fabrik 25. Emergent Presence. ARTRA Curatorial, June, 2014
Moore, Alex, “Wild Cats and Meadowlarks: Creating in L.A.” The Paris Review, 2012