Breakdown/Breakthrough: Art and Infrastructure

A sun-faded cream van stands with its side door slid open on a tiny white gallery lit by small lamps, a cluster of dark objects on its plywood floor. A wooden step stool leads up to it, and a hand-lettered cardboard sign propped against the front tire reads ART SHOW HERE.
Under a violet night sky pricked with stars and a hazy moon, a freeway of streaking headlights crosses the canvas in thick strokes of orange, teal and pink, its glow mirrored in dark water and a skyline below.
Title
Breakdown/Breakthrough: Art and Infrastructure
Artist/Creator
Ruben Ochoa, Carlos Almaraz, Pat Gomez, Sean Duffy, Beatrice von Rague Schleyer, André Woodward
Description
A two-part group exhibition at the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art, curated by Michaëla Mohrmann, on Southern California's built environment and the policies and power dynamics that shape how the public experiences it, from urban neglect in Los Angeles and freeways that divide neighborhoods to the environmental cost of UC Irvine's Brutalist architecture. Part one paired newly acquired photographs from Ruben Ochoa's ficus series (2007) with works by Carlos Almaraz and Pat Gomez from the museum's collection, tracing how generations of Chicano artists have shown the harm California's infrastructure and urban policies cause to communities of color. Part two, in April 2026, was a pop-up of Ochoa's Class: C (2001), a Chevy van converted into a mobile gallery, showing work by UC Irvine artists Sean Duffy, Beatrice von Rague Schleyer and André Woodward at the Irvine Barclay Theatre Plaza.
Event Type
Exhibition
Date
January 31 – May 16, 2026
Location
UC Irvine Langson Museum Interim Gallery, 18881 Von Karman Avenue, Irvine, California
Organizer
Curated by Michaëla Mohrmann, Assistant Curator, UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art
Affiliated Organizations
UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art
Geographic Scope
Regional / Multi-County
Climate & Ecology Themes
Urban Landscapes and Infrastructures
Environmental Justice
Discipline / Field
Arts & Design
Concepts
Place and Belonging
Ecological Domain / Habitat
Urban
Audience / Engagement Type
Public / General Audience
Methods & Approaches
Public Programming
Rights
Rights held by artist or creator
Website
langson.uci.edu
Item sets
California Art & Climate Archive
UC Irvine
Media
A sun-faded cream van stands with its side door slid open on a tiny white gallery lit by small lamps, a cluster of dark objects on its plywood floor. A wooden step stool leads up to it, and a hand-lettered cardboard sign propped against the front tire reads ART SHOW HERE.Ruben Ochoa, CLASS: C
Under a violet night sky pricked with stars and a hazy moon, a freeway of streaking headlights crosses the canvas in thick strokes of orange, teal and pink, its glow mirrored in dark water and a skyline below.Carlos Almaraz, Evening Traffic