This week has been a bittersweet one in Quinn Emanuel’s Los Angeles offices. Our two Artists-in-Residence, Tony de los Reyes and Francisco Palomares, packed up and headed out, concluding a productive and successful 2021-22 program. These two local artists were the second class of artists to participate in the firm’s residency program—which had previously included Edgar Ramirez and Molly Segal.
Our residency program first came about when curator Alexis Hyde arrived at the idea of using our DTLA offices—considerably emptied by the pandemic—to host emerging artists from the local area. The success of the program was felt not only by the artists, who had ample space to explore and create in a novel environment, but also by those employed by the law firm. Placing artists side by side with lawyers might seem somewhat counterintuitive, but their presence reminded us of certain themes the arts and litigation do, in fact share: the need for creativity, the importance of precedent, and the centrality of narrative to name a few.
As a bit of a swan song this past weekend, Tony de los Reyes gave an artist talk on his work, which concerns migration and the US-Mexico border crossing. His work employs a vast array of media and data, from lithographs and silkscreens to algorithms and maps. He works exclusively in the five colors that comprise the US and Mexican flags. We were delighted to host both the creation of this work and the chance for the public to hear him talk about it in situ. That work also served as a rich counterpoint to that of his fellow resident, Francisco Palomares, who works on canvas in a painterly tradition that evokes the Renaissance and features deft plays of light, shadow, and color to explore his own Mexican-American heritage.
While I am sad to see both Tony and Francisco go, I am also thrilled to announce that we are presently accepting applications for our next residency program! The next term will run from September 1 until December 31 of this year and will culminate in an exhibition that will be open to the public from January 7 to February 4, 2023. Each artist receives a $20,000 grant and their own corner office to use as studio space.
Applications should include the following components in an email to artistfellowship@quinnemanuel.com:
- Proposal (500 words max) in body of email
- Resume or CV, including contact information, PDF form
- Digital portfolio, submitted in a single PDF, highlighting no more than 8 original works that represent the applicant’s style, quality and practice over time
- Links for applicable videos or media may be included in the body of the email