Overview
The Oak Cliff Cultural Center is pleased to present artist Antonio Lechuga's Structures of Softness. Lechuga's multi-disciplinary practice focuses on the intersection of art, design, architecture, and social change. Structures of Softness opens on August 5 with a reception from 6 – 8 pm.
Lechuga uses a varied visual language of materials and processes to discuss and investigate his culture and existence; both his existence and experiences as a Tejano living in the 21st century and its constant battle with the erasure of that history. Antonio uses the current condition of today’s political climate to inform and guide his work. Through investigations, research and new technologies Antonio begins to piece together new narratives of a future for the Mexican-American of the Texas region while emphasizing and highlighting it’s rich, deep and turbulent past.
Structures of Softness is an immersive installation responding to the divisiveness of border walls. Tall fence like structures wrapped in cobijas/blankets transform the gallery, embodying comfort in opposition to the cold, hard structure that exists along the United States/Mexico border. The cobijas, warm and inviting, are lovingly wrapped around the fence, hugging it to encourage a sense of care and security. Lechuga's careful deconstruction of the cobijas and his consideration in the craft, composition, and reconstruction of them to hug the fence facilitates the comforting experience. Focused on healing, Lechuga's installation "challenges the future function of a border wall and the notion of security", altering the collective experience of walls and borders of all kinds.
Antonio Lechuga (b.1985) is a multidisciplinary artist who was born in and based out of Dallas, TX. He attended Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles, CA as well as El Centro College in Dallas, TX. He has exhibited work both nationally and internationally but most previously at many regional Dallas-Fort Worth institutions including 500X Gallery, the Geometric MADI Museum, Arts Fort Worth, Craighead Green Gallery, Ro2 Art Gallery, ArtRoom, Love Texas Art Gallery and both the Oak Cliff Cultural Center and Latino Cultural Center in Dallas, TX respectively. His work is included in private collections across the nation and in 2022 he opened his first solo show titled Fences, at Love Texas Art Gallery in Fort Worth, TX. He has upcoming solo shows in 2023 in Dallas, TX at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center and at Daisha Board Gallery where he is currently represented.
The Oak Cliff Cultural Center is located at 223 W. Jefferson Blvd. next to the historic Texas Theater in Oak Cliff – Dallas, TX. Operating hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 12 pm – 6 pm. Structures of Softness will be on view through September 2, 2023.
