Evita Tezeno
Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is pleased to announce Evita Tezeno, Coming Home: A Gathering of Voices, the artist’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. The exhibition runs from June 14 to August 15, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Sunday, June 14, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
In Coming Home: A Gathering of Voices, Evita Tezeno debuts a new series of collage paintings rooted in memories of her hometown of Port Arthur, Texas. Known for her autobiographical portraits and vibrant depictions of joy in Black American life, Tezeno expands her visual language through complex, multi-figure compositions that honor the communal fabric shaping her earliest experiences.
Drawn from the cultural history of Southeast Texas’ “Golden Triangle,” a region shaped by generations of Creole communities that migrated from Louisiana during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the series reflects a living heritage sustained through language, music, cuisine, and enduring rituals of gathering. Through these paintings, Tezeno pays homage to her family’s Creole roots while foregrounding the significance of assembly, from intimate domestic settings to public spaces.
Tezeno masterfully composes hand-painted, patterned papers and drawings into multidimensional scenes that evoke the sensory rhythms of Creole life: the energy of Zydeco music, the slapping of dominoes, and the soulful nourishment of sharing home-cooked meals. Each work transforms the canvas into a site of celebration. Group scenes of quilting, family dinners, and public gatherings depict how coming together shapes individuals and communities. Tezeno’s collages underscore the power of collecting fragments into a whole and threading collective memory where stories are passed down, bonds are made, and joy resounds.
At once deeply personal and collectively resonant, Coming Home: A Gathering of Voices extends beyond remembrance. It becomes both affirmation and invitation—calling viewers to gather authentically, inhabit space fully, and join in kinship.
Evita Tezeno (b. 1959, Port Arthur, TX) lives and works in Dallas, Texas. Tezeno holds a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design (1984) from Lamar University, Beaumont, TX. Recent solo exhibitions include Evita Tezeno: Piece of My Heart (2025), Dishman Art Museum, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX; Out of Many (2023), Houston Museum of African American Culture, Houston, TX; The Moments We Share Are the Memories We Keep (2023), and My Life, My Story (2021), Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. Select group exhibitions include Améfrica: Diasporic Connections in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection (2026-27), Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville, Spain; Fields of Vision: Dallas Collects (2026), Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX; Solace and Sisterhood (2025), David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD; LAYERS: The Art of Contemporary Collage (2025), Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD; Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection (2024), El Espacio 23, Miami, FL; Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary Art Collage (2024), Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX. Tezeno’s works are held in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL; Dallas Museum of Art, TX; African American Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; Embassy of the Republic of Madagascar; The Bunker Artspace, Palm Beach, FL; El Espacio 23, Miami, FL, and numerous other prominent private collections.