September 26, 2024 – January 4, 2025 

The Exhibit | Gallery Card | Artist Biography | Images | Events

In centuries past, fine art was considered the pinnacle of artistic achievement—confined to approved subjects, settings, and mediums, displayed in museums and salons. Today, fine art can exist in the collision between customary and unconventional.  

Jacqueline Valenzuela challenges the entrenched definitions of artistic tradition, social hierarchy, and gender roles by bringing iconography and imagery of Chicano Street culture into her work. An interdisciplinary artist, her practice is a personal and cultural journal that reflects the experience of women in the lowrider community through vibrant, mixed-media objects. Valenzuela’s early series, "Mujeres de Lowriding," set the stage for this exploration by highlighting the significant yet often overlooked roles of women in this predominantly male-dominated sphere, using a rich palette and varied techniques to address themes of identity, representation, and social status.  

Valenzuela’s three-year hiatus from traditional art, spent working in the automotive industry, profoundly influenced her creative process. This period allowed her to experiment with painting on found car parts and embrace rasquachismo, a Chicano art principle centered around making the most of available materials. The result is a body of work that marries fine art with automotive aesthetics, leading to the creation of assemblage-style frames and paintings that reflect the intricate, often extravagant nature of lowrider culture while also challenging conventional boundaries between high and low art.  

Her recent works emphasize the fusion of cultural traditions and contemporary art practices. By incorporating elements like graffiti, pixelation, and automotive paint into her compositions, Valenzuela bridges the gap between the vibrant, DIY ethos of lowriding and the formal qualities of fine art. The use of automotive materials and assemblage techniques highlights the artistic value of lowrider culture and serves as a testament to Valenzuela’s innovative approach to representing her personal experiences and the broader narrative of women in this unique cultural space.

Ultimately, Con Safos, Con Fuerza is testimony of the reality of being a woman in the male-dominated lowrider community and a challenge to those who doubt their experience and value. More specifically, this body of work demonstrates that Valenzuela lives and creates “Con Safos” y (and) “Con Fuerza”. 

Valenzuela (b. 1997 East Los Angeles, CA) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice is centered around depicting her personal experiences and tellin the storiesof other women who like her are in the Chicano world of lowriding.  Her art practice reflects the deep roots she has planted in the lowrider community by bridging the gap between fine art and this underrepresented community. 

Valenzuela received a BFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University, Long Beach (2019). Valenzuela has a forthcoming MFA in Drawing and Painting from University of California, Los Angeles (2027). Her work has been exhibited nationally, including the South Gate Museum, Mexic-Arte Museum, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, The Mexican Center for Culture and Cinematic Arts of the Mexican Consulate, The Cheech—Riverside Art Museum, the Brand Library & Art Center, Muzeo Museum, and Elverhøj Museum. 

At the heart of Valenzuela’s artistic pedagogy is a necessity for community outreach to historically underprivileged communities such as the one she is a part of. She has facilitated lowrider-inspired workshops with the Ontario Museum of History & Art. Jacqueline’s “Build Your Own Lowrider” workshop was integrated into Summer 2024’s OC Fair for Chicano History Month, and was included as educational programming with the Peterson Automotive Museum during its “Best in Low” exhibition. The workshop will be included in BMoA’s Second Saturday event in October 2024. Valenzuela is currently working on expanding this workshop with other local museums, schools and governments. Jacqueline has also served twice on the judges panel for the annual student art exhibition at her Alma Mater, Whittier High School. Before becoming a full-time artist, she was working as a teaching artist in the non-profit sector in the greater Los Angeles area. 

Valenzuela’s work has been highlighted in both online and printed publications of LAist, Remezcla, a special re-issue of Lowrider Magazine, Juxtapoz and Gata Magazine. In 2023 she participated in the inaugural cohort for the Ellsworth Residency at ArtShare L.A. Valenzuela has now served on the judges panel for the third and fourth residency cohorts. She was a 2023-2024 CAC Individual Artist Fellow for Los Angeles County. And is currently one of the 2024-2025 Professional Artists Fellows for Long Beach City Arts Council. Valenzuela was the Spring 2024 artist-in-residence for A Room of One's Own at Blue Roof Arts. She was recently one of the fourteen artist-in-residence for Sound System:An Experimental Residency, with the Torrance Art Museum, June 2024.

Artists on Artists: Jacqueline Valenzuela & Cesar Martinez

Saturday, December 14
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
$20 non-members | $10 senior/students | FREE to BMoA Members

As part of Bakersfield's Second Saturday programming join artists Jacqueline Valenzuela from Con Safos, Con Fuerza and Cesar Martinez from Drink Cultura in Artists on Artists, as they engage in an intimate one-on-one discussion about their craft and work, providing insight into their creative process and how their work plays a crucial role in not only the perception of their personal backgrounds but also the communities they represent.   

Image Credit: Jacqueline Valenzuela, No Lack in Cadillac, 2024, Goldleaf and oil on canvas, 36" x 36”, Courtesy of the Artist.