San Francisco, California. January, 2025 –– On behalf of the new curatorial collective, OF THREADS, we are proud to share and announce, “El Listón Café”, an art and design group exhibition held at the contemporary art gallery Glass Rice (f. 2016), founded by Cecilia Chia, which will be on view from January 11th until February 15th, 2025. 

The group show, curated and prompted by OF THREADS’ co-founders Alma Jimenez Lopez and Sergio Mondragón, portrays a spectrum of contemporary testimonies informed by the duality and/or communion of two worlds within a coming-of-age experience. One world is deeply rooted in Mexican heritage and culture; the other in an American childhood and adolescence.

The artistic interpretation of these personal journeys is expressed through a mixed array of mediums such as fashion, furniture, painting, sculpture, fine jewelry, and objects by 11 California-based Mexican-American artists and designers:

ALEX ORTEGA
ALEXI G. ORDUÑO
ALMA JIMENEZ LOPEZ
ALYSSA AVILES
CHRIS CISNEROS GONZALEZ
JUAN FERNANDO VALDEZ
KEVIN FIGUEROA
NATALIE GAVIDIA
SERENA MADRIGAL
SERGIO MONDRAGÓN
TATIANA BELTRAN

While primarily centered on Mexican-American perspectives and lenses, “El Listón Café” serves a larger purpose stoked by OF THREAD’S as it seeks to invite viewers of all  backgrounds, especially those international or immigrant, to reflect on the interplay and coexistence of American cultural upbringing and original heritage. 

“El Listón Café” was curated and produced by OF THREADS, an art-design curatorial collective founded by Alma Jimenez Lopez and Sergio Mondragón created to celebrate the work of Mexican American designers and artists in the United States. Through their curatorial efforts, they investigate the deep connections between multiple generations, the blending of Mexican heritage and the American experience.