Root Division presents 16 Bay Area artists representing 13 ancestries in an exhibition entitled Insider/Outsider. The purpose of this exhibition is to draw together a broad range of artists, all of whom are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants to the US, working on themes of identity, ethnicity, migration, and place. Rather than focus on one geographic center or culture, we seek to present and compare a full range of perspectives. The title, Insider/Outsider, references both the identification of oneself as an “other” as well as expansive issues of boundaries and barriers between belonging and exclusion.

We are thrilled to have had a panel of such distinguished jurors. Rene de Guzman, Taraneh Hemami, and Kevin Chen are themselves current Bay Area artists, curators, and educators who immigrated to the United States.