CASA FAMILIAR ANNOUNCES
Exquisite Potential: Surviving the 21st Century through Surreal Metamorphosis
ART EXHIBITION CELEBRATING THE 19TH ANNUAL DIA DE LA MUJER AT THE FRONT ARTE & CULTURA
San Diego, CA – February 18, 2025 – Casa Familiar is proud to announce the 19th annual Dia de la Mujer Exhibition, titled “Exquisite Potential: Surviving the 21st Century through Surreal Metamorphosis. The opening reception will take place on March 7th, 5-7pm, at The FRONT Gallery in San Ysidro, California.
Exquisite Potential, draws inspiration from the Surrealist movement of the 1920s-30s, where artists and writers explored metamorphosis as a process of collective mythmaking in order to push back against oppression, which included the rise of European fascism and the effects of Western imperialism. This exhibition brings together a wide array of international and local artists over several events to elevate the works of BIPOC women and non-binary artists from both sides of the border.
More than a century later, anti-fascist and anti-imperialist methods rooted in a surreal metamorphosis must be re-examined and re-employed as strategies to confront present-day national/global authoritarianism and the complete disregard of human rights. By turning the familiar into the strange or the grotesque into the beautiful we are empowered by the ability to forge our own existence in whatever shape it takes.
Curated by Ariana Torres
Artists Participating:
Guest Artists:
Kerianne Quick
Georgina Treviño
Aidelen Montoya
Sarah Garcia
Akiko Surai
Helena Westra
Ari Bird
Paola Capó
Open Call Artists
Aida Urbina
Alejandra Dueñas
Alexandra Carter
Alondra Zamorano
Ana Villalpando
Ana Violeta Horta
Angela Zamora
Avia Rose Ramm
Breanna «Nana» Rohde
Elizabeth Rooklidge
Gabrielle Berens
Isa Guadalupe Medina
Lana Moss
Laura Estela Huerta Ponce
Mônica Lóss
Nicole Antebi
Olivia Arreguín
Paloma Gonzalez, Unapiel
Simone Quiles
Sitoë Thiam / n-girls collective
The FRONT Arte & Cultura is a gallery is operated by Casa Familiar, a community development agency in south San Diego. In their 19 years of operations, The FRONT has become a key binational and multicultural art institution of the San Diego-Tijuana region. The FRONT Arte & Cultura at Casa Familiar invites the public to attend the following Dia de la Mujer events:
Parallel Activities
1.- Opening Reception – March 7, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm. @The FRONT Arte Cultura
2.- Fragmented Stories March 13th, 2026. 4:00 – 7:00 pm. @Arts District Liberty Station. Gallery 201
3.- Sidro Saturday – Community Market – April 25, 2026, 12:00 – 5:00 pm. @EL Salon Theatre.
4.- Exhibition Tour/ Artist Talk, May 7th, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm @The FRONT Arte Cultura
About the curator
Ariana Torres is a San Diego-based curator and arts administrator. Torres currently serves as the Assistant Curator at Mingei International Museum and volunteers as a Programming Lead with San Diego Filipino Cinema, an organization promoting Filipino/a/x diaspora stories in film. Her educational background includes BA in Studio Art from San Diego State University and an MA in Art History from the University of York, UK where she researched themes of ritual, enchantment, and the surreal within material culture and Modern and Contemporary.
