We Live in Painting: A Color Convening

Join us for a two-day virtual symposium in conjunction with We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art. Day 2 will focus on the scientific perspective, featuring experts who will explore the chemistry, materials, and technological methods behind the vibrant colors in Mesoamerican art. Speakers will discuss how scientific analysis has uncovered the origins and significance of these colors, shedding new light on the traditional techniques and cultural practices that continue to influence contemporary works.

Diana Magaloni is a renowned art historian, author, curator, and conservator. She is currently Deputy Director, Program Director of the Art of the Ancient Americas (2014–2025), and the Conservation Center Director at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2019–2025). Dr. Magaloni holds a Ph.D. in Art History from Yale University, an M.A. in Art History from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and a B.A. in Conservation from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). She was Director of the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City (2009–2013), and a researcher and professor at UNAM (1991–2014). Her research has focused on developing methodologies to understand the originality of the artistic and aesthetic processes of ancient America's Indigenous cultures.

Davide Domenici is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Department of History and Cultures of the University of Bologna (Italy). Domenici was director of the Río La Venta Archaeological Project (Chiapas, Mexico, 1998-2010) and of the Cahokia Project (Illinois, USA, 2011-2017). For the past two decades, he has been studying the technology of manuscript painting in pre-Hispanic and colonial Mesoamerica through non-invasive scientific analysis in collaboration with the MOLAB mobile laboratory (CNR, Italy). His current research project explores the cultural biographies of Mesoamerican artifacts brought to Italy in the 16th century.

John Hirx joined the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1993 where he is the Head of Objects Conservation with research interests in technical studies of inorganic objects. Previously, he worked for The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Brooklyn Museum of Art.  His degrees include a B.A. (Art history/Studio art/Chemistry with a concentration in Ceramics and an M.A. (Art History/Ceramics) from Hunter College of the City of New York and an M.A. and Diploma in Conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

Laura Maccarelli is the Andrew W Mellon Head Scientist within the scientific research group at LACMA.  Prior to her time at LACMA, she held a brief internship at The National Trust as well as Heritage Malta.  She graduated with a M.Sc. in Conservation Science from the University of Bologna. At LACMA her work focuses on material identification of art objects, in addition to being involved in external research projects focusing on paintings, 3D objects and work on paper. Her passion is to research natural organic dyes on textiles using destructive and non-destructive techniques. (Moderator)

For more information about Day 1 of the Symposium, please click here.