La Piedra Art Collective
THAT STUBBORN RESISTANCE
February 15–July 27, 2025
That Stubborn Resistance is a celebration, rooted in the past, of the present contributions of Central Americans and Mexicans in the United States. The exhibition, featuring both existing and new artworks created by members of the Los Angeles artists group La Piedra, envisions resistance as the refusal to accept or comply. The artwork explores themes of war, memory, and healing. In their own words, the artists of La Piedra highlight “how all social struggles, whether contemporary or future, are the continuity of the historical legacy of other deeds.” The name La Piedra alludes to the artists’ collective history of resilience. Like many other immigrants from the Central American region, most of La Piedra’s members had to flee their countries. To find refuge in the United States, they left behind family, careers, and their aspirations. Struggles for social justice have inspired and nourished their art, while that art has accompanied and informed feats carried out by different peoples in their search for better societies free of oppression.
The artworks in the exhibition are complemented by oral history videos that trace personal and community histories, highlighting the reconstruction of the artists’ lives: raising families, establishing communities, and gradually reshaping the Los Angeles landscape through their multi-layered social and cultural contributions. Individually and collectively, they have participated in numerous art exhibitions and public art programs in the US since 1979. In 1997, they participated in the first-ever cross-cultural art exchange with El Salvador, known as The Great Table. Three panels of the 14-panel polyptych are on display here.
La Piedra convenes twice a month at the Siqueiros Gallery in Mid City to create, educate, and participate in community. They fight for recognition in the art world and find ways to refuse invisibility in US society and culture while holding their homelands close to their hearts.
La Piedra artists: Margoth Ábrego, Mario Ávila, Tito Calidonio, Arturo Cambron, Guillermo Fuentes, Pehdro Kruhz, Dora Magaña,
Francisco A. Mejía, Ricardo O’Meany, Eduardo Polanko.
The artworks in the exhibition are complemented by oral history videos that trace personal and community histories, highlighting the reconstruction of the artists’ lives: raising families, establishing communities, and gradually reshaping the Los Angeles landscape through their multi-layered social and cultural contributions. Individually and collectively, they have participated in numerous art exhibitions and public art programs in the US since 1979. In 1997, they participated in the first-ever cross-cultural art exchange with El Salvador, known as The Great Table. Three panels of the 14-panel polyptych are on display here.
La Piedra convenes twice a month at the Siqueiros Gallery in Mid City to create, educate, and participate in community. They fight for recognition in the art world and find ways to refuse invisibility in US society and culture while holding their homelands close to their hearts.
La Piedra artists: Margoth Ábrego, Mario Ávila, Tito Calidonio, Arturo Cambron, Guillermo Fuentes, Pehdro Kruhz, Dora Magaña,
Francisco A. Mejía, Ricardo O’Meany, Eduardo Polanko.
LA PIEDRA ART COLLECTIVE
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La Piedra is a group of Latin American artists based in Los Angeles, united by their ethos, cultural affinity, and inclination for social justice. Repression; wars; the activation of right-wing death squads primarily by the oligarchies of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras; and the US intervention against Nicaragua drove artists—along with workers, peasants, students, teachers, doctors, and various professionals—to seek refuge in Los Angeles. Starting in the 1980s, the group’s artistic efforts focused, in considerable measure, on denouncing local injustices and raising awareness of the heartbreaking reality of life in those countries, which include some of the poorest populations in the world. From these shared experiences with immigrant communities, several groups formed in Los Angeles, including Los Cipotes, GAS (Salvadoran Artists Group), G-3, CAP (Plastic Arts Collective, part of the Central American Cultural Center), and La Piedra.
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Top row (left to right): Francisco A. Mejía, Ricardo O’Meany,
Arturo Cambron, and Eduardo Polanko Bottom row (left to right): Margoth Ábrego, Guillermo Fuentes, and Dora Magaña |
DORA O. MAGAÑA
Dora O. Magaña
Clear Synthesis, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48"
Clear Synthesis, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48"
Dora O. Magaña
Invasion of Paradise, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48" |
Dora O. Magaña
Brilliant Unity, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 24" x 30" |
RICARDO O'MEANY
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Ricardo O'Meany
Ayotzinapa, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48" |
Ricardo O'Meany
Too Many Crosses for One Christ (Migrants series), 2010, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48" |
GUILLERMO FUENTES
Guillermo Fuentes
Flower Vendor, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48" |
Guillermo Fuentes
Padre Luis Olivares, 2003, acrylic on canvas, 22" x 28" |
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Guillermo Fuentes
Everything Orange, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 60" |
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Guillermo Fuentes
The Mother with her Monkeys, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 72" |
PEHDRO KRUHZ
Pehdro Kruhz
God Save You, 1989, oil on canvas, 36" x 48"
God Save You, 1989, oil on canvas, 36" x 48"
Pehdro Kruhz
Left and Right, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 36" |
Pehdro Kruhz
Canek, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 36" |
EDUARDO POLANKO
Eduardo Polanko
Old Ideas, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 40" x 30" |
Eduardo Polanko
The Corn, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 40" x 30" |
Eduardo Polanko
The Massacre, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40"
The Massacre, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40"
ARTURO CAMBRON
Arturo Cambron
The Defiance of La Lupe, 2019, acrylic on wood panel, 48" x 72"
The Defiance of La Lupe, 2019, acrylic on wood panel, 48" x 72"
Arturo Cambron
Never Ending Love - Day of the Dead, 2024, acrylic on OSB board, 22" x 25" |
Arturo Cambron
5th Street Blues, 2014, acrylic on wood panel, 24" x 32" |
Arturo Cambron
Enough, 2016, acrylic and oil on wood panel, 48" x 36" |
Arturo Cambron
Crimes of the State: From Ferguson to Ayotzinapa, 2016, acrylic on wood panel, 36" x 48" |
MARGOTH ÁBREGO
Margoth Ábrego
Fallen Leaves, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40" |
Margoth Ábrego
My Dear Saint Martin, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40" |
TITO CALIDONIO
Tito Calidonio
Untitled, no date, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48" |
Tito Calidonio
The Main Builders, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48" |
MARIO ÁVILA
Mario Ávila
Resistance, no date, acrylic on canvas
Resistance, no date, acrylic on canvas
Mario Ávila
Identity, 2024, steel, 12" x 72" x12" |
Mario Ávila
Ixim Two, 2024, steel, 12" x 72" x 12" |
FRANCISCO A. MEJÍA
Francisco A. Mejía
Oscar Arnulfo Romero, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 84" x 48"
Oscar Arnulfo Romero, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 84" x 48"
Francisco A. Mejía
Brave Girl (Immigration), 2024, acrylic on canvas, 84" x 48"
Brave Girl (Immigration), 2024, acrylic on canvas, 84" x 48"
Francisco A. Mejía
Stolen Land, no date, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 84"
Stolen Land, no date, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 84"
THE GREAT TABLE
The Great Table was a collective feat for the participating artists, members of GAS (Grupo Artistas Salvadoreños, or the Salvadoran Artists Group). In the mid-1990s, these artists received an invitation to participate in the first cross-cultural art exhibition between Salvadoran artists in Los Angeles and in their home country of El Salvador. The invitation came from CONCULTURA (Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y el Arte) around the time Roberto Galicia became that organization’s president in 1994. This was a significant period for the Salvadoran diaspora. The civil war that had engulfed El Salvador for over a decade left tens of thousands dead and many more seeking refuge around the world. Peace accords were signed in 1992, and a process of reconstruction followed, enabling emigrants to reestablish connections with their homeland.
Some members of GAS accepted the invitation and decided to collaborate on a 14-panel, 4-by-7-foot polyptych to show unity among the diaspora. Two lines were drawn across each panel, so that when the panels were put side by side, they created the illusion of a table connecting all 14 artworks. Other than these lines, the artists had freedom in composition and areas of focus, which ranged from decrying social injustice to elevating religious symbols.
The GAS artists were able to collaborate effectively because they had been convening every Sunday at El Rescate (a legal and social services organization for Central American refugees in Los Angeles) long before the invitation, making the long and arduous process feasible. Despite this, reviewing and critiquing each other's progress became increasingly challenging as the 14 canvases expanded to a width of 57 feet. There was also the daunting task of raising funds to travel and transport the polyptych to El Salvador.
Finally, the project came together, and four locations in El Salvador mounted the exhibition: Teatro Presidente, El Salvador, Ministerio de Cultura (CONCULTURA, 1997); Pinacoteca Roque Dalton de la Universidad Nacional (1997); Casa de la Cultura de Zacatecoluca (1997); and Asociación Salvadoreña de Trabajadores del Arte y la Cultura (ASTAC), San José (1998).
Participating GAS artists: Alfredo González, Carlos Alberto Novoa, Edgar Aparicio, Edgar Turish, Eduardo Alfaro Palacios, Francisco Alberto Mejia, Jesús Salvador Reyes, Neifa Cosenza, Pehdro Kruhz, Rafael Escamilla, Ricardo García O’Meany, Tony Leiva, Vicente Palacios, Werner Pastran
Some members of GAS accepted the invitation and decided to collaborate on a 14-panel, 4-by-7-foot polyptych to show unity among the diaspora. Two lines were drawn across each panel, so that when the panels were put side by side, they created the illusion of a table connecting all 14 artworks. Other than these lines, the artists had freedom in composition and areas of focus, which ranged from decrying social injustice to elevating religious symbols.
The GAS artists were able to collaborate effectively because they had been convening every Sunday at El Rescate (a legal and social services organization for Central American refugees in Los Angeles) long before the invitation, making the long and arduous process feasible. Despite this, reviewing and critiquing each other's progress became increasingly challenging as the 14 canvases expanded to a width of 57 feet. There was also the daunting task of raising funds to travel and transport the polyptych to El Salvador.
Finally, the project came together, and four locations in El Salvador mounted the exhibition: Teatro Presidente, El Salvador, Ministerio de Cultura (CONCULTURA, 1997); Pinacoteca Roque Dalton de la Universidad Nacional (1997); Casa de la Cultura de Zacatecoluca (1997); and Asociación Salvadoreña de Trabajadores del Arte y la Cultura (ASTAC), San José (1998).
Participating GAS artists: Alfredo González, Carlos Alberto Novoa, Edgar Aparicio, Edgar Turish, Eduardo Alfaro Palacios, Francisco Alberto Mejia, Jesús Salvador Reyes, Neifa Cosenza, Pehdro Kruhz, Rafael Escamilla, Ricardo García O’Meany, Tony Leiva, Vicente Palacios, Werner Pastran
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Panel number 1 by Francisco A. Mejía
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Panel number 10 by Alfredo González
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Panel number 14 by Ricardo O'Meany.
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Francisco A. Mejía
The Workers, 1998, oil on canvas, 48" x 84" |
Alfredo González
The Soul of the Cosmos, c.1998, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 84" |
Ricardo O'Meany
¡Oh my god, the wine is gone!, 1998, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 84" |