TONÁNTZIN 

Louis Verdad: TONÁNTZIN

La Plaza de Cultura y Artes: September 14, 2024  – April 27, 2025

Louis Verdad: TONÁNTZIN  features a commissioned artwork by Mexican-American fashion designer Louis Verdad and a team of artists who built a 9-foot visage of the Mesoamerican goddess, also known as Mama Tierra. Bringing art and fashion together, this multimedia installation is a contemporary reinterpretation of the Mesoamerican goddess that embodies the duality of creation and destruction. Her shifting identity throughout history in connection with La Virgen de Guadalupe has memorialized her as a significant symbol of identity and strength today.

With atmospheric lighting and sound elements, this installation offers a powerful and contemplative space that invites the public to gather around the goddess-mother on meditation cushions to consider the meaning and reciprocal role our communities have as protectors and stewards of the Earth.

Fashion designer Louis Verdad’s studio is based in Los Angeles, and his designs have adorned celebrities such as Christina Aguilera, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett, Cher, Paris Hilton, Eva Longoria, Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, and others. Much of his style bridges fashion and sculpture, and he is currently developing new works that address his Mexican roots that embody and celebrate his cultura with historical and symbolic references. The exhibition also documents through photography and film the artistic practice and process of making the installation.

This exhibition is presented with LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes Community Hub activities included in Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide Southern California’s landmark arts event.

TONÁNTZIN is curated by LA Plaza’s Curatorial Department led by Karen Crews Hendon.

TONÁNTZIN is a collaboration featuring the following artists:

Louis Verdad, Fashion Designer and Creative Director

Derek Holguin, Graphic Design

Gloria Westcott, Art and Creative Consultant

Juan Corral, Technical Director, Designer, and Fabricator

Lori Corral, Senior 3-Dimensional Designer and Chief Sculptor

Michael Smith Studios, Entertainment Wardrobe and Prop Designer

Stephan Brucker, Glass Artist

Eloy Torres, Artist

Arturo Robles, Embroidery

Gustavo Vega and Eulalia Guzman, Seamstresses

CADfab Digital, Fabric Printing