The work of Beatriz Cortez explores simultaneity, multiple temporalities, and speculative imaginaries. Cortez has an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts and a PhD in Latin American Literature from Arizona State University. She is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of California, Davis.  

Cortez has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, including the most recent 60th International Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, Foreigners Everywhere and the 14th Shanghai Biennial, Cosmos Cinema. Recent solo exhibitions have been at Storm King Art Center, Williams College Museum of Art, Commonwealth and Council and Craft Contemporary Museum of Art. 

Cortez is the recipient of the Latinx Artist Fellowship, Borderlands Fellowship, and Artadia Los Angeles Award, among others. Her work has also exhibited her work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Ballroom Marfa, Texas; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Socrates Sculpture Park, New York; TEOR/éTica, San José, Costa Rica; Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Colombia; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco; 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Panamá; MSU Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, MI; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego, among others.

About the program:

This year-round calendar of art lectures provides students with intellectual access to a diverse group of acclaimed artists, art historians, art educators, curators, and scholars. Our guests conduct on-campus talks about their art, research, and careers, adding to the pedagogical discourse of contemporary art in the classroom. Visiting speakers are proposed and voted on by a committee of faculty and graduate students across disciplines. All VAS events are free and open to the public, an important educational program for the regional art scene.