Gabi Magaly — Deep Red Press

Gabi Magaly is an emerging artist born in Bryan, Texas. Magaly received her MFA in Visual Arts at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2020. Magaly has exhibited in solo shows at Satellite Gallery, Huntsville, TX; The Brick, San Antonio, TX; Presa House Gallery, San Antonio, TX; Casa Lu, Mexico City. Her numerous group exhibitions include Luis Leu Gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany; The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio, TX; Masur Museum in Monroe, Louisiana; Museo De Las Américas in Denver, CO; New Texas Talent XXVII in Dallas, TX; Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, TX. She’s been awarded two CAMMIE awards from Blue Star Contemporary and Luminaria Contemporary Cultural Center during Contemporary Art Month 2020. She is also serving a term on the SPE Board of Directors from 2020 to 2024. She works predominantly in the medium of photography but also employs other mediums like sculptural installation and embroidery. Magaly currently lives in San Antonio, Texas, and works remotely at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona.

RR: Hello Gabi, glad to have you back. How has it been and what do you have going on these days?

GM: Hey Raul, thank you for having me again. It really means a lot to come back after these crazy few years. A lot of good things have been happening since we last talked. I graduated into the pandemic in May of 2020 and was fortunate enough to get a job at Diné College, a tribal college in Tsaile Arizona. At the same time, just working on whatever idea comes to mind. I’ve been working like crazy in my art career to make up for the time I lost since May 2020. I currently have a solo show at East Lubbock Art House in Lubbock Texas until January 2023.

RR: Happy things are coming back around after these last two years. We featured your work, Mi Religion, just before the pandemic happened. Could you tell us about your most recent body or bodies of work?

GM: Right now, I’m working on telling and archiving the story of my family. Being a first-generation Mexican American Chicana, I became interested in where I come from. Unfortunately, our stories are lost, forgotten, or erased from the history books or not passed down. I’m interested in how I show the sacrifices my family has made for me to get where I am now. How do I honor their memory or make my ancestors proud because they didn’t get the chance that I have now? I plan on documenting my family for probably the rest of my life or till they tell me to stop.

Installation of *Es Una Cruz Bien Dura De Cargar*, Gabi Magaly, 2022

RR: Have you discovered something new during this process of archiving your family history?

GM: I've discovered so much about family stories that I started to voice record them. Like stories of great great grandparents, where they come from, and discovering new family in Mexico. I really thought that all of my family had moved to the states and that I didn't have any more ties to the motherlands but I have a lot family still there on both sides. I’ve discovered some secrets in the family which were mind blowing. Overall, I’ve loved listening to my Abuelita talk about her growing up and how she meet my Abuelito. Those are stories that I’ll cherish.

RR: You also work in various mediums. How would you describe your artistic process when it comes to the projects you take on? Is it one at a time or do you work on several at once and how do you find the balance?

GM: I work on several at once. I can’t stay focused on one thing too long before I loose interest on the project. Mi ama always said “tiene gusanos en la cola?” (do you have worms in your butt). A saying said to kids that move a lot or don’t sit still. I think that’s me now. Like I’m always working on something when it comes to my art making. Whether it’s reading, researching, being on Instagram and seeing what other artist are creating. I’m always working and it unfortunately has bit me in the butt lately because I’ve overworked myself recently and I finally had to slow down. My goal next year is to find a balance when it comes to creating art because I saw that I was close to hitting a wall this year and calling it quits. A lot people don’t talk about finding that balance, as a first gen we’re taught to work because nothing is going to be handed to you. And that’s what I did. Work and not worry about my mental health. My focus is to take care of my mental health next year.

Installation of Gabi and Frank, Gabi Magaly, 2022

RR: Your series’ Gabi and Frank and Es Una Cruz Bien Dura de Cargar were exhibited at University of Texas at San Antonio early this year, and I enjoy how these two play off of each other. You are the connecting thread between them but could you talk about how these bodies exchange dialogue?

GM: All of my work comes from different experiences in my life or moments I wasn’t allowed to express as a little girl and now as a woman, all of my work connects or influences the next body of art I create. Which I didn’t see happening when I saw all of the work up in the same space. I know that these two bodies talk to each other because, in Mexican culture, family is everything no matter how toxic that family member can be, we still need to respect them. Which I don’t agree with. Yes, family means a lot to me. I wouldn't be where I am without them but I had to cut my dad out of life in order to grow emotional. Little girls are told at a very young age that they have to become wives and mothers at a certain age. That we aren’t meant to get an education and to put our lives on hold for a career. With Es Una Cruz Bien Dura de Cargar I want to honor my family but show them that I can still be successful without going the traditional route. I don’t see myself getting married or ever having kids of my own. That's why the series Gabi and Frank is important when it comes to talking about the dynamics of the traditional relationship and that at the end of the day, I am happy my family is Frank, I, and my dog. And yes, that is considered a family.

*Gabi and Frank paying homage to Elinor Carucci*

RR: Gabi and Frank, to me, is groundbreaking in how intimacy is shown with a partner. What prompted the series? How do you find these moments within your own relationship?

GM: With this series, that’s my relationship with my partner and how my upbringing did, and still affects it to this day. I do self-portraits with Frank whenever I feel a shift in between us. Whether it is positive or negative or after we have discussions like death, wanting kids, or what our goals in life are. I want this work to show how vulnerable I can be but still feel empowered in where we are in life. The other reason I wanted to photograph us is that there is hardly any positive representation in the media when it comes to Brown couples. They are such ugly ways that we are portrayed in movies that I want to change that and show the world that we can love each other and still be empowered in the work. I think the reason why these photos work so well is that I’m not forcing them to happen, I just let them happen organically. I ask Frank for his permission to have him in the work, he is much of the artist as I am. His face might not be in the photo because I still want to give him his privacy. He is also in control of the image that is put out in the world.

RR: I see a lot of things being challenged in the work - with your partner having long hair, your pronounced embrace of his body and your direct gaze towards the viewer in some of the images. Do you see the series challenging things like machismo culture and traditional forms of intimacy?

GM: I say that this work does disrupt that traditional way of machismo thinking. I’ve never seen a photo of a brown man laying his head on their partner's lap or chest that isn’t sexual. Or that their body language comes off as being vulnerable or tender with their girlfriend. People forget how powerful photography can be sometimes. Like you can change the way people see you or how you are portrayed to others. I will always photograph moments of myself when I feel the most powerful or when I’m at my lowest. Because I have the opportunity and privilege to tell my story and how I want others to see me. I wasn’t allowed to show that growing up. Machismo don’t want us to talk about our stories, especially not our feelings. They don’t want to be held accountable for the way they treated our mothers. So by me photographing my relationship and taking control of my narrative is probably the biggest fuck you to them. I wasn’t supposed to get an education or be “childless” at my age. I chose to be child-free and show the world that you can be happy with your partner by cutting that toxic way of thinking.

RR: Being Mexican-American myself, the things you voice and express through photography hits home. Your visibility in this work, as the photographer and subject, is another thing that disrupts a very white landscape. How has it been navigating the photography/art world? What kind of things have you had to reckon with in showing your work?

GM: I would say when I entered grad school in 2017 is when I started to take my art more seriously. I didn’t know what I was doing in undergrad because I wasn’t really exploring my identity as a Chicana. And there are still moments when I don’t know what I’m doing. Navigating the art worlds has been a challenge because this world is still new to me in how certain things are done. Going to grad school helped me understand a lot but I’m still learning everyday. I’m the first in my family to go to college and have a career in Arts, so I can’t call family for advice or help. Which can be hard but they have supported me in my dream even when they don’t understand what is happening. Being a Mexican-American artist has been hard because the art world is still very white centric, I’ve had to seek out different opportunities because I’ve been told my work would be “looked over” or that it wouldn’t sell. There are times that I doubt myself because I feel like I don’t belong in a room full of white people, and that my story will fall on deaf ears. I'm always aware when I’m one of the few people of color in the room. I worry that I was their “diversity pick” just to have a brown person in the show. I’m very aware of all this and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. I want to be in shows because my work got me in, not because they need diversity in the line up. It’s this weird feeling I can’t explain because I want to make my family and ancestors proud but am I exploiting my story? I’ve questioned a lot of my work lately because I want to make sure I’m asking the right questions and listening to what my people have to say. I’m always going to navigate this art world like I’m walking on eggshells because that world is where my brown ass isn’t supposed to be.

RR: I believe there is power is showing brown bodies, skin and the intimacy we have in our communities that is not at the forefront of our illustrations. I think you’re right, we feel like we are not suppose to be here, yet we are. And we are pretty good at creating that space. Thanks for your time Gabi, do you have anything else coming up?

GM: Right now, I’m just working on my mental health and resting for next year's adventure which is still a mystery. I have new ideas that I do want to work on but need to be fleshed out some more before I start to create. I had to slow down because I’ve had my foot on the gas pedal since graduating. Scared myself a bit when I started to feel burned out, but I caught myself before I hit that wall. As of right now, I don’t have any shows coming up, but I’m always open to having my work go places I’ve never been.

RR: I will certainly be keeping up with your ongoing projects. Thank you again!

gabimagaly.com

@gabimagaly