Jacqueline Valenzuela: Clutch
August 30 - November 1, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 30, 5–8 PM
The Reef, 1933 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA
Jacqueline Valenzuela, Black Magic Woman (2024) Gold leaf, Oil & Paint Stick on Canvas 66”x 60”
Jacqueline Valenzuela, Nomad (2024) Gold leaf, Oil & Paint Stick on Canvas 66”x 60”
Press Release
Hannah Sloan Curatorial & Advisory is pleased to present Clutch, an exhibition of paintings by East Los Angeles–born artist Jacqueline Valenzuela, opening at The Reef on August 30.
Valenzuela’s work challenges entrenched artistic and social hierarchies by fusing Chicano street culture with fine art. Her practice draws from her personal experience as a lowrider owner and her three years in the automotive industry, where she mastered complex paint techniques. Clutch celebrates the women of LA’s lowrider community, the gleaming paint jobs of their cars, and the urban streets they transform—low and slow.
The exhibition runs concurrently with Chicano Power, a presentation by Craig Krull Gallery featuring pioneers of LA Chicana/o art including Gronk, Judithe Hernández, and Gilbert “Magu” Luján.
“The mere act of building or cruising a lowrider has spiritualistic underpinnings. It is an act of worship.” —Jacqueline Valenzuela
Valenzuela (b. 1997, East LA) has exhibited at the South Gate Museum, Mexic-Arte Museum, The Cheech, Marietta Cobb Museum, and Elverhøj Museum. In 2024, she presented her first solo museum show, Con Safos, Con Fuerzas, at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, with upcoming solos at College of the Canyons and the Brand Library. She is currently pursuing her MFA at UCLA (2027) and has received multiple fellowships, including the 2023–24 CAC Individual Artist Fellowship.
In addition to her studio practice, Valenzuela curates and teaches, founding the traveling exhibition project L.A. to S.A. and leading lowrider-themed workshops across Southern California.