Ya Hecho: Readymade in the Borderlands
Tucson Museum of Art
Through November 30, 2025
Freedom of Speech, 2025
Norman Rockwell book depicting American Freedoms,
Inglés Sin Barreras Workbook, ceiling tile, Plaskolite ceiling grid,
rotary phone, trimmer line, galvanized metal tape,
intaglio on Plexiglass, acrylic, polymer,
and enamel on wooden panel
Image courtesy of the Artist
Deeply Rooted in Machismo, 2025
Found boots, natural rope
Image courtesy of the Artist
Unnumbered Portraits 3, 2023
Linocut prints on found produce boxes
Collection of the Tucson Museum of Art
Museum Purchase
Funds provided by Latin American Art Patrons,
Sue and Maurice Nieland, and David and Julia Andres. 2024.11
Untitled XX, 2023
Found objects
Image courtesy of the Artist
Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block presents Ya Hecho: Readymade in the Borderlands guest curated by Rigoberto Luna.
This exhibition features contemporary artists living and working from both sides of the United States-Mexico border while focusing on the significance of materials and place in art-making practices. Gesturing towards the Chicano sensibilities of rasquachismo—a legacy of resourcefulness born from necessity—blended with the European and American tradition of the readymade, these artists’ transform mass-produced and found objects to explore themes of land and labor, movement and migration, materiality of place, and beyond borders.
Anne Breckenridge Barrett, TMA’s Jon and Linda Ender Director and CEO reflects, “This exhibition powerfully embodies the Tucson Museum of Art’s mission to connect art to life. Ya Hecho explores how artists engage in making through personal conceptual practice using found objects—welcoming a dialogue around lived experience in the Borderlands. TMA has a longstanding commitment to collecting contemporary and Latin American art, making this a meaningful addition to our ongoing focus on art of our region and its far-reaching impact.”
featuring artworks by Margarita Cabrera and co-artists,
Andrés Caballero and Vanessa Saavedra
Courtesy of the Tucson Museum of Art
Photo: Tina Lieberman
featuring artworks by Lorena Ochoa, Daisy Quezada Ureña,
Miriam Salado, and Vicente Telles
Courtesy of the Tucson Museum of Art
Photo: Tina Lieberman
featuring artworks by María José Crespo, Federico Cuatlacuatl,
Raúl De Lara, Rubén Ulises Rodríguez Montoya,
and Gloria Martinez-Granados
Courtesy of the Tucson Museum of Art
Photo: Tina Lieberman
The exhibition amplifies the contributions of Latinx artists from the Southwest while highlighting shared approaches to storytelling, art-making, and cross-cultural exchanges. Featuring 42 artworks by 18 artists made over the last 20 years, Ya Hecho evokes the landscape and cultural aesthetic of the Borderlands through sculpture and installation deeply rooted in personal experiences and historical narratives.
Guest curator Rigoberto Luna reflects, “This exhibition is important because the works emerge from the social and material realities of Borderland communities—it is both personal and about an important creative moment. Mobilizing everyday materials—cardboard, produce bags, truck parts—these artists engage in transformative acts. Through resourcefulness and care, they reveal that what is often overlooked or discarded can hold the deepest meaning about who we are.”
By inventively synthesizing found and familiar objects, artists in Ya Hecho create a language of possibility rooted in materials, bridging personal associations with complex diasporic themes—conveying histories of labor, migration, survival, and resilience.
REST, 2024
Found objects
Image courtesy of the Artist
Nacaxtotomo, 2024
Wearable sculpture
Image courtesy of the Artist
Photo: Camilo Pachon
Ya Hecho includes the artwork of Andrés Caballero and Vanessa Saavedra, Margarita Cabrera, María José Crespo. Federico Cuatlacuatl, Raúl De Lara, Verónica Gaona, Gloria Martinez-Granados, Narsiso Martinez, Sophia Mayorga, Rubén Ulises Rodríguez Montoya, Lorena Ochoa, Daisy Quezada Ureña, Gil Rocha, Miriam Salado, Vicente Telles, José Villalobos, and Judi Werthein. Also featured in the exhibition are poems by Tucson-based Diana Marie Delgado, Gabriel Dozal, Melani “Mele” Martinez, and Logan Phillips, which expands on main themes.
TUSCON MUSEUM OF ART
Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block
140 North Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701
Ya Hecho: Readymade in the Borderlands
Tucson Museum of Art , July 3 – November 30, 2025
