Latine Abstraction Shines in 'Rebel Forms' Exhibition

Romer Young Gallery's powerful show explores the possibilities of futurity, freedom, and unfettered beauty in contemporary Latine art.

Published on Feb. 23, 2026

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Romer Young Gallery's 'Rebel Forms' exhibition showcases a diverse array of contemporary Latine artists exploring abstraction. Curated by Erik Barrios-Recendez, the show features works that tap into themes of spirituality, identity, and the constructed realities of Latinx culture. Pieces by artists like Ana Teresa Fernández, Miguel Arzabe, and Kevin Umaña blend digital and ancestral visual languages, challenging traditional notions of Latinx art.

Why it matters

The exhibition highlights how Latine artists are using abstraction to free themselves from the burden of performing identity for the market or a specific audience. Instead, they are able to touch on pressing topics like immigration, spiritualism, and colonialism, while also embracing the pure joy of creating beautiful, unfettered works of art.

The details

The exhibition includes works that blend digital and ancestral visual languages, such as Ana Teresa Fernández's 'Coatl,' which features angular gold metal glyphs laser-inscribed into wood, and Miguel Arzabe's 'Entropía,' which combines painting and weaving to create a 3-D picture plane that references Andean textiles. Other pieces, like Pablo Guardiola's 'Sea Glass Wall' and Julio César Morales' 'Hopefully Invisible #1, #2, #3,' incorporate more direct real-world references to issues like border security and women's bodily autonomy.

  • The 'Rebel Forms' exhibition is on view at Romer Young Gallery in San Francisco through March 7, 2026.
  • An artists' talk is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm.

The players

Romer Young Gallery

A contemporary art gallery located in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco.

Erik Barrios-Recendez

The curator of the 'Rebel Forms' exhibition and a Latinx community specialist who recently moved to San Francisco from Southern California.

Ana Teresa Fernández

A Mexican artist whose work 'Coatl' is featured in the exhibition, blending digital and ancestral visual languages.

Miguel Arzabe

A Bolivian-American artist whose work 'Entropía' is featured in the exhibition, combining painting and weaving to create a 3-D picture plane.

Kevin Umaña

A Salvadoran artist and SFSU graduate whose work 'Night Driving With Halo Around Lights and Increased Glare' is featured in the exhibition.

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What they’re saying

“Abstraction can free Latinx artists from the burden of performing their identities for the market or a specific audience. But it can also give them space to touch on big and pressing topics that concern Latinx identity—like immigration, spiritualism, colonialism, and the constructed realities of identity itself.”

— Erik Barrios-Recendez, Curator (48hills.org)

“Entropy can be a wearing down, but it's also part of a cyclical process. Order becomes chaos, chaos becomes order, regeneration. 'Entropía is a very spiritual piece, but also very mathematical piece.”

— Erik Barrios-Recendez, Curator (48hills.org)

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

This exhibition showcases how Latine artists are using abstraction to explore themes of identity, spirituality, and the constructed realities of Latinx culture, while also embracing the pure joy of creating beautiful, unfettered works of art.