There are so many good shows right now at the Vincent Price Art Museum that it’s impossible to choose just one. “Images of the Divine in Everyday Mexico” comprises retablo and ex-voto paintings from the early 19th to mid-20th centuries. Mostly wrought on small sheets of tin, these humble yet captivating paintings were created as devotional offerings to divinities or saints. Each is painted with a sensitive, idiosyncratic touch to which age and wear confer additional character. Personal narratives of indebtedness to religious figures are related via dedicatory inscriptions ranging from a farmer expressing appreciation for a plague of worms having not destroyed his crop, to a gambler giving thanks for having recuperated his losses, to various expressions of gratitude for the healing of afflictions. Spirituality continues in the “14th Annual Student Altar Exhibition,” featuring Día de los Muertos ofrendas made by Chicano Studies students in honor of prominent Mexican-American artists including Selena Quintanilla, Carlos Almaraz and Gilbert “Magu” Luján. Each altar is as creative as it is informative, including visual displays and essays about the honoree’s artistic legacy. These two shows provide a rich backdrop for historic and cultural themes in solo exhibitions by contemporary LA artists: Umar Rashid, Gabriela Ruiz (installation pictured above), Carolina Caycedo and George Rodriguez.

Vincent Price Art Museum
1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Altar exhibition ends Dec. 6
Other closing dates vary; see museum website for details.