CCAD in the Press

‘Hairtage’ Exhibit at Cypress College Art Gallery Allows Black Artists to ‘Speak Their Truths’

Voice of OC

February 25, 2021

Richard Chang

Black hair is for real.

African Americans have been dealing with their hair for hundreds of years — whether to alter or hide it to conform with dominant (white) standards of beauty, or to keep it and grow it out naturally, even let it go wild.

A new exhibition presented by Cypress College is exploring the many expressions of African hair and what hair — natural, teased, altered or represented — means to Black people, and to the culture writ large.

“Artist Sergio O’Cadiz’s Memory Lives on in Cypress Exhibition”

Voice of OC

November 5, 2019

Richard Chang

“What Sergio does from an art historian’s point of view, he acts as a bridge to a number of different movements. He brings with him a very expressive sensibility. He’s fully trained in the Brutalist architecture style. He’s a muralist in the tradition of Mexican muralists. But he adapts Brutalism and uses new technology, he uses new techniques. He’s a real pioneer in that fashion. He uses the same technique to articulate his ideas and feeling and thoughts.”

“STUDY UP ON CONTEMPORARY ART AT L.A.’S COLLEGE-AFFILIATED GALLERIES”

LA Weekly

September 19, 2019

“Two new exhibits open at the gallery on September 19. El Artist explores the work of J. Sergio O’Cadiz Moctezuma, whose concrete relief “Library Mural,” is part of the Cypress campus. Janet Owen Driggs, director of the gallery, says, “Once upon a time, he was incredibly well known and very successful as an architectural designer and artist in Orange County. And he fell out of favor, largely as a result of his support for community action and the Chicano movement.” That exhibit is paired with “Hostile Terrain,” an installation by Jason De León in which visitors are asked to complete toe tags for the more than 3,000 people who have died trying to cross into the U.S. through the Sonoran Desert over the past 25 years.”

"CYPRESS COLLEGE ART SHAPES VIEWERS’ PERCEPTIONS”

OC Register

October 3, 2013 

"Cypress College Art Gallery’s latest exhibition, “Within,” sets out to challenge how viewers perceive the human body as a work of art.

Curated by Chloë Flores, the interactive exhibition features works from artists Heather Cassils; Ashley Hunt and Taisha Paggett; Mariah Garnett, Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Roberto Sifuentes; Guru Rugu; and Julie Tolentino. The gallery hosted an opening-night gala on Sept. 25."