Battery Mixer

2003

Mexican, born 1973

The artist replaced the parts of these appliances manufactured in Mexico with sewn vinyl. Shifting from assembly-line construction to the creation of a singular object, the sculptures emphasize the work process and measure the geography of labor in a global marketplace.

Vinyl, thread, metal, electric parts

10 x 7 x 10 in. (25.4 x 17.8 x 25.4 cm)

Modern Art Acquisition Fund and General Acquisition Fund

2015.7.1

Provenance: The artist; [Talley Dunn Gallery, Dallas, Texas]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2015

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryAustin, Texas, Women and Their Work, Maquila, Oct. 9 - Nov. 13, 2004. Reproduced p. 1.

El Paso, Texas, Adair Margo Gallery, Maquila, Jan. 2005.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Pop Departures. Oct. 9, 2014 - Jan. 11, 2015. Text by Catharina Manchanda, et al. No cat. no., p. 101, not reproduced.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Reverberations: Contemporary Art and Modern Classics, Dec. 22, 2022 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesMay, Jaqueline. “Margarita Cabrera, Maquila.” The Austin Chronicle, November 12, 2004.

Sokolec, David. “Bicultural and Multilevel: Margarita Cabrera.” Glasstire: Texas Visual Art. January 2, 2005.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM