In this painting one can see the overlap of several major themes in Hurtado’s work: language-play, birth, and self-portraiture (the forms at the bottom of the canvas suggest the artist’s first-person perspective looking down at her own body).

Embedded in the composition of this painting are the words that inspired the title of this exhibition: “I Live I Die I Will Be Reborn.” The photograph below shows the painting’s cut strips of canvas before Hurtado sewed them together.

The corner installation of this work is based on archival photo documentation of Hurtado’s 1974 exhibition at the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles.

Orinoco, 1973
Oil on canvas
Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Luchita Hurtado
Photo: Jeff McLane/Hauser & Wirth

Hurtado in the garden of her home on Mesa Road in Santa Monica Canyon, 1973

Photo by Matt Mullican

Hurtado often depicted herself with objects from her surroundings. This detailed interior scene, although not a conventional self-portrait, offers an intimate glimpse of the rich collection of art and artifacts she and her husband Lee Mullican lived with at home.

To make this work, Hurtado traced the outlines of herself and her youngest son, John, then age four.

Untitled, 2019

Ink on paper
Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Luchita Hurtado
Photo: Jeff McLane/Hauser & Wirth

Hurtado’s handwritten observation on this page of her notebook demonstrates her keen attention to human figures and figure relationships across the history of art.

In its formal composition, this drawing references the folded-arm figures of ancient Cycladic art, like the one Hurtado documented in the sketch-book drawing at right.