Sandy Rodriguez (b. 1975) is a Los Angeles- based Chicana artist and researcher whose practice engages historic materials and techniques of the Americas to paint visual histories. Her ongoing series Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón maps resistance to colonial aggression by layering historical and contemporary events. Her series bridges the past and present to critique systems of power and envision alternative futures. The works draw on 16th-century colonial codices and maps produced during the collision of cultures in the Americas, embedding historical narratives within the framework of modern geopolitics, social history, and cartography.

Currents of Resistance is the culminating exhibition of her 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize commission. This exhibition was developed over the past two years and created across multiple sites, including the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Englewood, Florida; Joshua Tree, California; and Mar Vista, California, this multimedia installation comprises video, audio, a 40-foot paper panorama, and a “cabinet of curiosities.” The installation investigates resistance to colonial and environmental exploitation through an interdisciplinary lens and makes visible the Gulf region’s intertwined histories of cultural resilience and ecological transformation.

This exhibition features art works originally commissioned by The Hermitage Greenfield Prize and The Hermitage Artist Retreat, Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO, Sarasota County, Florida in 2023 in collaboration with The Greenfield Foundation.

Image: Sandy Rodriguez, Mapa de Los Angeles: For those Killed by Police in 2018, 2018. Hand-processed watercolor on amate paper. 47 x 94 ½ in
Courtesy of the artist. © Sandy Rodriguez