The Invisible Archive: Francis & Anthony Almendarez (Navigating the Archives Within)
written by Virginia Arce
Vol. L.A., Issue No. 6
Francis Almendárez on bongos. Performance still from Navigating the Archives Within, 2020. Photo by Laura De Léon. Courtesy of the Artist.
The essay probes at the tension of misrecognition and recognition by mainstream American popular (Americana) media from the perspective of Latinx immigrant experiences. It locates this tension within a set of autobiographical readings that oscillate between resistance and assimilation, from adult children of immigrants from Mexico and Honduras.
This unique social position is occupied by both the author of the essay as well as the Almendárez brothers’, the creators of Navigating the Archives Within. This critical positionality creates an interesting crossfade of dominant American pop-cultural texts between their immigrants’ parents’ escapist reading of American pop culture vs. their own critical, academic analysis. The crossing adds nuanced textures to the discussion about inter-generational longing for mainstream societal connection among BIPOC immigrants in the United States.
Continuing the tradition of postcolonial criticism, the essay sheds light on the importance of personal voices within academic traditions, updating the discussion on minoritarian psychical dynamics within the hyper-mediated 21st century where images are accessible and decontextualized. It also resonates strongly with the decade of 2020s where artist-organizers are actively addressing the inter-generational trauma of migration and immigration.
Review excerpt by Umi Hsu, public humanist, strategic designer, Director of Content Strategy at ONE Archives Foundation, https://beingumihsu.info
Navigating the Archives Within toggles between visibility and invisibility as a modality of identification and assimilating into and rejecting stereotypes in mainstream media. The essay [of this issue] expands on these notions by adding a different voice to the conversation, a personal one, a father and daughter relationship, which counters the relationships presented in the interview.
Not only alternating genders and gender roles but also generations, regions and Latinx origins. [The author’s personal voice] intensifies the possibility of relevance for a broader audience as well as lends itself to finding more intersectional points and translation of the work being addressed.
Review excerpt by Sarah Rafael García is an author, community educator, and performance ethnographer, www.cuentosmobile.com
Anthony Almendárez on trumpet. Performance still from Navigating the Archives Within, 2020. Photo by Laura De Léon. Courtesy of the Artist.
WATCH THE WHOLE VIDEO Navigating the Archives Within (2020) by Anthony and Francis Almendarez
About the Artists:
Francis and Anthony Almendárez are artist brothers from South Central Los Angeles, currently based in Houston. Their work takes shape in many different forms including collaborations, performances, screenings, workshops, and exhibitions that have been presented in museum, university, arts nonprofit, artist-run, virtual, and DIY spaces both nationally and internationally. Francis received his MFA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, and his BFA in Sculpture/New Genres from Otis College of Art and Design. Anthony is a candidate for the MFA in Music/Sound at Bard College, and previously received his MA in Music Theory and Composition from Marshall University, and his BA in Music Education from California State University, Dominguez Hills. Through the merging of history, (auto)ethnography, and cultural production in their works, they offer ways to navigate and reconcile with intergenerational trauma, and reclaim diasporic identities.
About the Author:
Virginia Arce is a Los Angeles-based curator and writer. She received her MFA in Critical and Curatorial Studies from the University of California, Irvine, and her BFA from Otis College of Art and Design. Her past curatorial projects span independently run artist spaces, arts nonprofits, commercial and municipal galleries. Through her work as a writer and editor at The Invisible Archive, she is able to support critical and candid collaborations between artists and writers independent of institutional, political, and financial frameworks.