Weave, Bundle, Cut, and Layer: Artists with Material Instincts, curated by
Lisa McCutcheon. On view at Root Division, San Francisco from Nov. 5 – 30 2021

This dynamic group exhibition features artists who share the ability to transform non-traditional materials into a personal visual language — a language that illuminates
the beauty and reflection to be found in the mundane. Fabric, rubber, screening, wood, shards of paper, and discarded plastic are just a few of the materials these artists gather, manipulate, and resurrect.

Environmental justice and stewardship of the planet are central to Tara de la Garza’s art practice. She reveals the stories embedded in our collective consumption, specifically of single use plastic. She delves into the archaeology of contemporary waste materials.

Universally Unknown is proud to present

Sequestered by Tara de la Garza 

powered by Topia
This will be a virtual, simulated gallery experience where you can wander around and easily move in and out of conversations with spatial video.

Virtual Reception: Saturday, March 27th, 2021, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (PST)
please RSVP here
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sequestered-tickets-144698498103

March 27^th 2021- April 27^th 2021

After Party: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM live from Italy with Y_DAPT 

Whilst Tara de la Garza has been enjoying the opportunity to see art all over the world during this time of Covid, she has been missing the social aspects of gallery openings. The chance encounters, waiting awkwardly next to someone to try and speak to them, the people that you potentially need to avoid, smiling till your face hurts, ignoring your favorite people because you know they will forgive you while you try and schmooze. Well, she thinks she has found a good online proxy in the new app Topia. You can populate the space with your artwork and videos and when people visit they can chat to each other when they get close by.

In her gallery universe, she has created a lounge area for those who just come to openings to socialize and drink wine. A back catalogue to see the journey she has been on, a gallerist area including Universally Unknown Gallery Owner Billy Gross where questions will be answered and art will be purchased and a studio section so you can see how the work came to life.

In this show de la Garza continues to sequester her and her neighbor’s debris into sculptures and lights. In the attempt to have a zero-waste studio she also experiments with using the waste materials she creates into new works. Environmental justice and stewardship of the planet are central to Tara de la Garza’s art practice. She reveals the stories embedded in our collective consumption, specifically of single use plastic. She delves into the archaeology of contemporary waste materials.

This exhibition showcases the current body of work created by de la Garza during Covid. Including monumental sculptures and light installations.

Please check out the Studio visit here: 

It was an honor to be included in Art/World Australia

Panel led by

Om Bleicher and Juri Koll 

Panelists: Chris Justin, and Rone

Join us for a panel of notable professionals from diverse areas of the Australian art scene as they guide us to travel on a virtual trip to Australia for art. Let’s get our toes wet into the ocean of collection and art sightseeing opportunities in this unique island nation. 

Visit Australian artists in their studios while you are traveling virtually, with a selection available for acquisitions. Visits with: Jordan Azcune, Tara De La Garza, Tom Dunn and Josh Rosenthal.

Works available here

Monuments to the Plastocene II

Exhibiting at the Palace of Fine Art Nov 2020

Recently, Tara de la Garza opened a book on natural history and was confronted by a photo of a decomposing albatross with a stomach full of plastic. It set something off in her: a realization of humankind’s pervasive impact on the planet, even in the earth’s most remote and supposedly pristine corners. At that moment, she decided to align her artmaking with a longstanding interest in conservation and waste management. We have termed the human epoch the Anthropocene, but as archeologist dig through this particular era she thinks we will undeniably see the impact of what de la Garza has termed ‘the Plastocene’.

The series of columns and light tubes are reminiscent of core samples and beacons of plastic waste. The columns are made with plastic waste collected in concert with the Surfrider

Foundation on Burns Beach SF, Monterey and La Jolla SD. The layered structures represent the earth’s geological stratifications over the millennia; the first evidence of humans’ shell middens; the microplastics of our era, our reliance on carbon and the possibility of a sustainable future. The LED lights utilize repurposed single-use plastic bags collected from the general public, to create lush, colorful light gels. These beacons draw in the viewer and, on close inspection, reveal an accumulation of discarded plastic bags that tell the story of our consumption.

Tara de la Garza is represented by SFA Projects in NYC and is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Watson Library NYC. She exhibits extensively in the US and Australia.

insta: #taradelagarza