Meet the Artists: Seba Calfuqueo, Young Joon Kwak and Sofia Moreno

Seba Calfuqueo is a Mapuche artist whose work refers to their cultural heritage as a starting point in order to propose a critical reflection on the social, cultural, and political status of the Mapuche within contemporary Chilean society. Their work also aims to bring visibility to issues regarding feminism and queer theory. Calfuqueo’s work is in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Denver Art Museum, CO; Museo de Arte Latinamericano de Buenos Artes, Argentina; Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madris, Spain, KADIST collection, Paris, France; Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Rio Grande do Sul (MAC RS), Brazil; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile and MAC, Santiago, Chile. They participated in the 2024 Whitney Biennial, New York, NY; the 34th Bienal de São Paulo; 12th Bienal de Mercosur and 22th Bienal Paiz. They are the winner of the Municipalidad de Santiago Award in 2017 and Fundación FAVA Award in 2018. In 2021 they were awarded by Eyebeam’s Fractal Fellowships and in 2023 by Fundación Ama Amoedo’a FAARA. www.sebacalfuqueo.com

Photo: Azul Gattas. Courtesy of Seba Calfuqueo

Young Joon Kwak is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist whose work spans sculpture, performance, video, sound and community-based collaborations. They have presented solo exhibitions at Arko Art Center, Seoul; Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles; Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; and Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada. Group exhibitions and performances include those at Hauser & Wirth, New York; Antenna Space, Shanghai; CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco; 47 Canal, New York; Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City; Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; The Broad, Los Angeles; and Le Pavillon Vendôme–Centre d’Art Contemporain, Clichy, France. Kwak is the founder of Mutant Salon, a roving beauty salon and platform for collaborative performances and installations with their community of queer/trans/POC artists and performers. They are also lead performer in the electronic-dance-noise band Xina Xurner. Kwak earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an MA from the University of Chicago, and an MFA from the University of Southern California. www.youngjoon.com

Photo: Joe Pugliese. Courtesy of Young Joon Kwak

Sofia Moreno is a multimedia artist whose subjects include expressions of the sacred and profane, the body, sexuality, religion and socio-political issues within contemporary culture. Recent solo exhibitions include Flores Nocturnas (Blooming at Night) at Haas Fine Arts Center, Eau Claire, WI; Fantasia 94 at s+s project, Mexico City; Sentimental Archeology, an Auto-Glorification Memorial at HG Chicago, Chicago, IL and Botched Garden of Earthly Delights: III Acts at Participant Inc, New York, NY. She has participated in group exhibitions in Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and across the United States. For over a decade, Moreno has produced multimedia art events with artists and peers via s+s project, a non-commercial, curatorial organization she founded and currently directs. In 2020, Moreno founded DNQ, a community arts organization aimed at supporting trans artists and activists living in Mexico by awarding mini-grants in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. She studied at El Centro College, Dallas TX, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.