Antonio Gallery sits where you might least expect a gallery to thrive: off the 210 freeway on Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena, tucked into the parking lot of an old lumber yard. Past shed-like buildings, weathered materials, and a small front porch, the entry reveals a space intent on new beginnings. It’s here that Grace Carter Mercado-Quinn, currently an undergraduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), presents Lady Praxis, on view May 16–June 16, 2026.
The incubator behind the door
Owner Georgia Fernandez founded Antonio Gallery as an incubator for artists at the start of their careers, naming it after her father, Antonio Fernandez, who suddenly passed away in 2020. Known in the Chinatown art scene in the early 2000s as “Mister Banjo”, he sought out small galleries and played banjo atop a six-foot-tall stool; Georgia strives to match that creative spirit. “I am looking for young artists whose careers are just beginning so I can help foster and nurture their growth,” she said at a recent opening.
Situated near ArtCenter College of Design, Antonio has been mounting exhibitions since September 2025. As artist Pae White remarked at the gallery’s recent opening on May 16, “Antonio captures the spirit of the casual ad hoc galleries of the ’80s and early ’90s. These were ephemeral spaces that popped up in residential homes and converted garages and seemed to lend themselves to exhibitions that felt more experimental and less institutional.”
Grace Carter Mercado-Quinn’s Lady Praxis
On opening night, the lot was crowded with art world figures drawn to Mercado-Quinn’s exploration of how unconventional portrayals of women’s bodies are cast as taboo, transgressive, abject, or even monstrous within a societal patriarchy. Rather than traffic in shock, her approach is measured and material-forward: richly textured surfaces and a deliberately simple, monochromatic palette guide attention to the subject. Often layered with her own poetry, the works aim for a gentle insistence rather than confrontation, holding viewers through a personal point of view.
That intimacy is anchored in process. As you move closer to the surfaces, the position she wants to address becomes inescapable, and the works begin to gently unravel the challenging topics they take on. Among the pieces referenced is Baby Hands (2026), a cyanotype on wood measuring 8×10, underscoring the show’s restrained color sensibility.
Lady Praxis
Antonio Gallery, 1464 Lincoln Ave, Pasadena, CA, Unit E
May 16–June 16, 2026
Open by appointment only
@aantoniogallery • aantoniogallery@gmail.com • 213-610-2040
Vía artandcakela.com
