Detail of newly commissioned artwork, 2025. Painting on linen made with natural ink from mission grapes. Courtesy of the artist.
April 26 – September 13, 2025
Opening reception: Saturday, April 26, 2025 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Please note: The museum will be closed during regular operating hours on Saturday, April 26 in preparation for the exhibition’s opening reception.
In her first solo museum exhibition, artist Eva Aguila researches the history of the Mission grape and wine production in the Catholic Mission System to examine the effects of colonization in what was once “Nueva España,” now Mexico and California. Utilizing somatic memory and archival research, Aguila reflects on the impact of the 1524 decree by Hernán Cortés, Ordenanzas de buen gobierno (“Ordinances of Good Governance”), tracing 500 years of the Mission grape’s historical ties to religious conversion and the subjugation of Indigenous peoples.
This immersive installation presents newly commissioned artworks that foster reflection, healing, and dialogue about the legacies of Spanish colonialism in Los Angeles and across North America. Artworks include ceramic sculptures resembling 500-year-old goblet vines, linens stained with ink made from Mission grapes, and infrasound recordings and video footage recorded across historically significant Missions and wine sites in Guanajuato, Alta California, and the Baja California peninsula. Together, these elements recontextualize histories of agriculture, religion, and nation-building, illuminating the power of art to address historical erasure and reinterpret narratives about Latinx and Indigenous cultures.
About the Artist
Eva Aguila is an interdisciplinary artist and organizer based in Los Angeles. Her artistic practice engages with video, sound, and installation, and in recent years has incorporated research and oral histories of the Mexican diaspora, specifically her ancestral and familial communities of rural Michoacán. She has exhibited and performed locally at the SUR:biennial (2023); CURRENT:LA FOOD (2019); and Human Resources, Los Angeles (2013) and internationally in Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Australia. In 2015, Aguila co-founded Coaxial Arts Foundation, an artist-run non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the work of experimental sound, video, and performance artists. She holds an MFA from the USC Roski School of Art and Design and a BFA from the School of Theater at the California Institute of the Arts.
Eva Aguila: Vino de Sangre is organized by the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College. It is curated by Gloria Ortega and Joseph Valencia.
The exhibition is presented as part of Media Cycles, a three-year media arts initiative generously supported by Teiger Foundation.
All exhibitions and programs at the Vincent Price Art Museum are underwritten by the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation and East Los Angeles College.