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E S S A Y We Been Here: William Camargo and the Arts of Counterstories (English)
by Joseph Daniel Valencia, Independent Curator and Exhibitions & Program Manager, Vincent Price Museum

E X H I B I T I O N   C H E C K L I S T : Artwork in the exhibition.

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A B O U T   T H E   E X H I B I T I O N

The Begovich Gallery, in partnership with CSUF Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) and MUZEO Museum & Cultural Center, presents Origins & Displacements, Vols. 1 & 2, an on-going body of work examining Orange County’s history through contemporary photographs, videos and performance produced by artist William Camargo. This two-part exhibition features Camargo’s artistic investigation challenging the social depiction and erasure of Chicanx/Latinx people in historical documents, photographs, and news archives. The suite of images in Vols. 1 & 2, examines two cities in Orange County with the highest population of Chicanx/Latinx citizens— Santa Ana and Anaheim. Respectively, they are also where Camargo was born and raised, as well as the locations of the host sites of the exhibition. These regions are pivotal to Camargo’s work and artistic process— tracing the narratives left out from historical photographs and news archives while recounting Orange County’s notorious golden days and not-too-distant past related to gentrification, systematic racism, and police brutality. 

Camargo’s photographs consider the potential for awareness and change. They balance factual commentary on relevant issues plaguing communities of color while examining history. As Katie Adams Farrell, MUZEO’s Interim Executive Director, states, “His work explores and contextualizes local history, creating explicit starting points for honest and meaningful conversations about what our community was, what it is today, and what it can be.” Central to the works featured in Origins & Displacements are photographs of the artist situated at various Orange County spaces while holding a cardboard sign with text revealing hidden stories or information about the area. According to Jennifer Frias, Director/Curator of the Begovich Gallery, the straightforward composition of (Camargo’s) photographs is packed with meaning becoming a site where “art and activism intersect and reflect our current social and political climate at national and local fronts.” 
 
Both host venues of Origins & Displacements feature works that correspond to past histories. However, to represent where specific topical issues intersect, a medley of images will be shown at both locations. “Vol. 1” at GCAC contains photographs and a video installation in its storefront windows. “Vol. 1” expresses Camargo’s visual response to written materials and images found in archives centered around Santa Ana. Camargo cites the City of Santa Ana’s History Room Digital Collections and its Public Library’s Online Archive as sources for generating the outcome of his photographs. MUZEO’s manifestation of “Vol. 2” is a grouping of photographs rendered as a public installation along its façade. “Vol. 2” includes Camargo’s photographic response to newspaper archives and materials from the Anaheim Heritage Center, particularly the book “Labor and Community” by Gilbert G. Gonzalez. 
 
Both presentations are viewable anytime from each venue’s pedestrian plaza, where safe social distancing can be practiced and is free to the public. A performance piece is scheduled to take place at GCAC on November 7 and can be seen virtually and in real-time. Viewers can learn more about Camargo’s work by visiting the Begovich Gallery’s website and reading an extended essay by Joseph Daniel Valencia, Independent Curator, and Exhibitions & Program Manager at East L.A. College’s Vincent Price Museum (VPAM). In addition to Valencia’s essay, the website provides a list of sources that inspired the text and images found in Camargo’s work.

"William Camargo: Origins & Displacements, Vols. 1 & 2 "is organized by CSUF Begovich Gallery and it is presented in partnership with CSUF Grand Central Art Center and MUZEO Museum & Cultural Center. Support for the exhibition and its programming is made possible through the Art Alliance, Associated Students, Inc. Instructional Related Activities, the College of the Arts, and Department of Visual Arts. Special thanks to Manny Escamilla, Commissioner of Arts and Culture, Santa Ana, CA. 

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A B O U T   T H E   A R T I S T

William Camargo is a photo-based artist, educator and arts advocate. He received his MFA at Claremont Graduate University and his BFA at the California State University, Fullerton. His work has been featured at venues such as Chicago Cultural Center (Chicago, IL), Loisaida Center (New York, NY), University of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN), Mexican Cultural Center and Cinematic Arts (Los Angeles, CA), and The Ethelber Cooper Gallery of African and African American Arts at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA). His work has been published in The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, The New York Times, OC Weekly, TIME, and others. He was awarded residencies at the Artists’ Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions (ACRE), the Chicago Artist Coalition, the Project Art, and at Otis School of Art and Design’s LA Summer. He is one of the selected recipients of the 2020 Lenscratch Student Prize, and the Leo Freedman Foundation Grant. He is currently serving as Commissioner of Heritage and Culture for the City of Anaheim. He is the founder/curator of Latinx Diaspora Archives. He works and lives in Anaheim, CA.

Artist’s website: www.williamcamargo.com
Instagram: @billythecamera

(Image) William Camargo, “An Attempt To Stop Flipping Houses,” 2019-ongoing. Digital inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist.