The Armor We Wear

Curated by Olivia Amaya Ortiz

How do clothing and adornment transcend utility—becoming symbols of power, identity, and intent? The Armor We Wear weaves together artworks that interlace shared and divergent narratives, cultural memory and expression, defiance and resistance. In an era of state-endorsed censorship and conformity, dress endures as metaphor: a woven act of protest, a celebration of pride, and a resilient form of becoming.

In the United States, arguably, there may be nothing more patriotic than protest, and dress has long been central to how dissent is made visible. From the deliberate “Sunday best” worn by Black activists during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s to counter dehumanizing stereotypes, to the zoot suit—worn by Mexican Americans, Japanese Americans, and Filipino Americans as an assertion of pachuco pride in the face of racialized violence in 1943 Los Angeles—clothing has operated as both armor and assertion. Color, silhouette, and material—black berets, white garments, denim—continue to mark solidarity and struggle across generations.

Artists included in this exhibition use elements of clothing as symbols that navigate identity, politics, and belonging. Painter Alejandro Macias portrays figures in quotidian clothing drawn from U.S.–Mexico border histories, amplifying Latine cultural hybridity and excellence; Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya conjures mythic beasts and fantastical creatures reflecting how borderland peoples are often perceived as monstrous “other” by those who abhor their presence. Papay Solomon renders striking portraits of African immigrants and diasporic youth draped in both traditional textiles and contemporary dress, highlighting how self-styling becomes an act of empowerment, heritage and adaptation.

The intricately-crafted pioneer-style bonnets by Angela Ellsworth reflect upon Mormon legacies, based upon the artist’s own personal upbringing, and reimagine realities wherein women “harness their own visionary and revelatory powers.” Anthony Hurd reinterprets Western romance tropes, transforming frontier masculinity into gestures of intimacy, tenderness and belonging. Blending streetwear aesthetics with domestic textiles, Shaunté Glover redefines politics of gender, unity and resilience–foregrounding intersectional solidarity in contemporary culture.

Together, these works reveal dress as a language of resistance—a means to assert selfhood, solidarity, and the courage to be seen.

Artist list:
Elizabeth Denneau
Angela Ellsworth
Eric J. Garcia in collaboration with Loose Threads Colectivo
Shaunté Glover
Camryn Growing Thunder (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, [Dakota and Nakoda])
Anthony Hurd
Alejandro Macias
Papay Solomon
Carrie Wood (Diné)
Ruben Ulisses Rodriguez Montoya 
Vicente Telles

PUBLIC PROGRAMING:

January 17 – A Land That Remembers: Artist Talk with Alejandro Macías

516 ARTS is pleased to host an artist talk with Alejandro Macías. In this artist talk, Macías will speak about the questions guiding his work and the ways he thinks through making as a form of inquiry. He will reflect on his use of materials, the role of storytelling and research in his process, and how his work negotiates visibility and care within institutional contexts. The conversation will also touch on how art can function as a site of reflection and resistance—holding personal experience alongside collective histories. Sign up here.

January 18 – A Land That Remembers: Workshop with Alejandro Macías

516 ARTS is pleased to host an artist-led workshop with Alejandro Macías, whose multidisciplinary practice moves across painting, drawing, and video to examine questions of identity, migration, and belonging. This is your opportunity to engage more deeply with the ideas that shape his work on view in The Armor We Wear, and to hear directly from the artist about the processes—both material and conceptual—behind his practice. Sign up here.

Further reading about the current exhibit and upcoming plans for 516 ARTS is available in this Pasatiempo Magazine article.