Highlights of the MOLAA Collection

CARMEN ARGOTE
(Mexico, 1981)

La ultima magnolia, 2016 Printed in 2018

C-print on paper, 40 x 30 in./ 102 x 76 cm.

Gift of the artist and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles

Accession: 2018

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Carmen Agote is known for her unique approach to contemporary art, which blends personal reflection with broader cultural and emotional themes. Her work often explores the intersections of identity, nature, and human emotion, using a variety of mediums to express her deeply felt connections to the world around her.

La Última Magnolia (The Last Magnolia), is a poignant and evocative artwork that holds significant emotional and symbolic weight. The work resonates as a meditation on the fleeting nature of life, love, and beauty, making it a deeply moving and introspective piece.

BIOGRAPHY

Carmen Argote is a Los Angeles artist who focuses on exploring history through architecture and other spaces she inhabits. Argote attended the University of California, Los Angeles, receiving her BA and MFA. In 2009 she attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison, Maine. Argote is a multidisciplinary artist, working in installation, photography, sculpture, and performance. She draws from her lived environments, connecting to their socio-political contexts, their histories, and how bodies function in these environments. Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions across the United States. She is the recipient of the Artadia Los Angeles Award (2019), an Artist Community Engagement Grant from the Rema Hort Mann Foundation (2015), and a California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists (2013). In 2016, she completed an Metropolitan Transportation Authority commission for the Metro Expo Line station at 17th and Colorado in Santa Monica, adjacent to 18SAC and Santa Monica College.