SAN ANTONIO, TX.- New exhibitions by Spring 2021 International Artists-in-Residence Adrian Aguilera (Austin, TX/Monterrey, Mexico), Nazafarin Lotfi (Tucson, AZ/ Chicago, IL/Mashhad, Iran), and Angel Nevarez & Valerie Tevere (Brooklyn, NY) opened virtually on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Following the virtual opening, Artpace will be open to the public by appointment.

in the co-confluence of the civilizations in the americas, artist Adrian Aguilera investigates the world of invisible laborers and the expanded economies in which they are involved. Aguilera particularly notes how invisible laborers play a large part in the Contemporary Art world, as in one artwork in the exhibition that lists "immigrant skilled labor compensation and floating device" as the medium. Using the Artpace residency as a tool for researching invisible labor in the arts, the exhibition displays Adrain’s findings through video installation, non-conventional prints, and more.

Nazafarin Lotfi's exhibition, all things that grow, utilizes various mediums, which spark sensations and desires that alter the gallery space. Inspired by gardens in the ancient Iranian plateau, all things that grow features prints, fountains, photographs, and drawings that speak to a utopian image of the world, which is both a tool for liberation and exploitation. Lofti explains, "…the gardens are relevant alternative spaces for unrealized dreams and possibilities. The utopian imagination they offer can be understood as a tool to fight oppression."

Twenty-one Silent Stages: A Ballad by duo Angel Nevarez & Valerie Tevere investigates a unique moment when venues around the world have shut down due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Photographs of empty stages and venues around San Antonio (including Paper Tiger, Carver Community Cultural Center, Bang Bang Bar, and more) project an eerie silence while a flashing neon light in the building lobby, created by Naverez and Tevere, alternates between the words, "postponed, rescheduled, canceled." Through this exhibition, the artists process the pandemic's impact on both a global and personal scale.

The artists were selected for the residency by guest curator Gilbert Vicario, Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs and The Selig Family Chief Curator at the Phoenix Art Museum.