Alessandra Moctezuma

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Alessandra Moctezuma (born September 4, 1967) is a Mexican multidisciplinary artist known for their site-specific art that delivers messages about the Latino experience in North America.

Early life and Education

Alessandra Moctezuma was born in Mexico City to parents involved in art, filmmaking, archaeology, and anthropology. They fostered a highly creative environment for Moctezuma and her siblings and exposed them to art and cultural activities at a young age. After moving to Madrid, Spain, at the age of 9, she was placed in private and Montessori schools, which place an emphasis on children’s natural interests. Moreover, these conditions allowed Moctezuma to continue an education in art once her and her family moved to Los Angeles. It was there that she attended Santa Monica College before receiving a B.A. degree in Fine Art and Chicano Studies from UCLA and later an MFA in painting and printmaking from UCLA in 1994. Moctezuma attempted a Phd in New York but eventually took employment as a professor in San Diego.

Career

Moctezuma is currently a professor at San Diego Mesa College, where she also curated an art exhibit with the aid of students and the arts community. Aside from teaching, Moctezuma has also worked as a gallery director, a cofounder for an organization called ADOBE LA, a curator for other exhibitions, and a writer for articles regarding socio political matters.

Notable Art

Installations

Living Room (1996)

This installation made by Moctezuma and Leda Ramos includes a lot of iconography that references Latino neighborhoods. By doing so, these artists present a landscape that is inviting and defined by Chicanos/as.

We Are Vendors, Not Criminals/Somos Vendedores, No Crimina/es (1997)

This installation made by Moctezuma and Leda Ramos highlights the oppressive actions made against street vendors that did so to make a living.

Between Home and Work (1997-1998)

This installation made by Moctezuma and Leda Ramos required eight months of research and in total took over a year to develop. After heavily researching the poor working conditions within the garment industry, these artists created an exhibit dedicated to these workers.

Murals

Oil, Life, Ecology (1990)

Moctezuma participated in the painting of this mural alongside many other artists over three decades ago when the concern over fossil fuels and the environment was just starting to gain attention. This mural displays both natural and man-made disasters that may be exacerbated in the future with the negligent use of fossil fuels.

Cactus growing from a heart (1990)

This mural, painted by Celia Ko and Alessandra Moctezuma, presents a cactus sprouting from a realistic, human heart as it reaches towards a sparse area of sunlight. This mural was constructed in 1990 and located in Long Beach, California.

References

Suderburg, Erika. Space, Site, Intervention: Situating Installation Art. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008.

Davis, Mike. “Learning from Tijuana.” Grand Street, no. 56 (1996): 33.

Osborne, P. “Installation, Performance, or What?” Oxford Art Journal 24, no. 2 (2001): 147–54.

Further Reading

Moctezuma, Alessandra. 2022. “‘Strange New World: Art and Design from Tijuana’; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Citation Metadata.” Artforum International, October 31. UCLA Library.

References

• Interview with Alessandra Moctezuma
• Article written by Alessandra Moctezuma

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