ChimMaya / CM2 Closes After Two Decades Service to the Community
Michael Sedano
The world said good-bye Sunday to East Los Angeles’ celebrated art gallery, CM2 / ChimMaya Gallery. Founders Steven Acevedo and Daniel Gonzalez brought fine arte to East Los Angeles, representation to a community of painters and graphic artists, and affordable masterpieces for the walls of nascent and veteran collectors. Every year was their best year.
La Bloga discovered ChimMaya in 2009 (link). The place was extraordinary for its range of subjects and styles, all within the compass of Chicana Chicano art.
Michael Sedano wrote:
Today, I'm happy to introduce ChimMaya, a spot of entrepreneurial genius located in eastern East Los Angeles. ChimMaya has the distinction of being one of those rare eastside galleries to have gotten some ink from the Los Angeles Times. Felicidades, ChimMaya.
El Lay gente will find a trip to this Land of Nod (it is at the east of ELAC) well worth their time. Art collectors with a few thousand dollars can pick and choose from a tempting array of genuine bargains in the three shows running concurrently, 16 X 20, Duality, and Frida.
This 2009 exhibition occurred in ChimMaya’s original location where it had the luxury of space allowing multiple large shows simultaneously:
In the main and east galleries, Chimaya was opening the 16 X 20 group show featuring 32 artists. The 16" x 20" canvases hang side by side, encouraging comments and comparison of various painters' styles. This wall shows Dolores Haro, Aydee Lopez Martinez, Yolanda Gonzales, Joe Bravo. Opposite wall, not illustrated, contains additional work by Bravo, Gonzales, Ernie Herrera, and other outstanding creators.”
This 2009 La Bloga-Tuesday column’s first impression is echoed in commenter Anita Rehker's experience:
Mr. Sedano's experience at ChimMaya is thoroughly echoed by my own and by friends whom I have taken there. From the moment you enter the front door, beauty in a variety of forms greets you not only through the artists' works, but from every corner of the gallery. The dedication and commitment of ChimMaya's owners, Steven and Danny, is on display throughout. Their obvious respect for the artists is matched by their commitment to the East LA barrio. In my estimation what sets them apart is the heart that they invest in every event. Whether it's a book signing, a music performance, or a new artist's exhibition, I try never to miss it for purely selfish reasons: the art is as provocative as it is uplifting; I meet fascinating people; I have the opportunity to purchase art at a price that is fair to me, to the proprietors, and to the artist. Everyone wins! So thank you ChimMaya for all that you do for the local community and metropolitan Los Angeles.
Anita Rehker
foto:CM2, 2026
La Bloga celebrated ChimMaya’s Eleventh birthday in 2016 (link) when the gallery celebrated with a blockbuster show that forced comparison with ChimMaya’s most popular exhibition, its annual Frida Kahlo tribute.
But ChimMaya is more than the annual Frida show. Month-in, month-out the gallery brings in work from a solid list of accomplished raza artists. Steven Acevedo, the gallery’s artistic director, has a keen eye for talent and he regularly welcomes emerging artists to display work in one of the four distinct spaces within the gallery.
ChimMaya was a place where artist and collectors could talk about the work and feel no pressure to make a deal.
Rick Ortega, Mario Trillo, Mario Trillo
As I prepare to wrap up my visit—my wife acquired a Frida purse from the ChimMaya boutique—I stop to talk with Cici Segura-Gonzales. Her eight foot panel features the ancient raices of Mexican history, Olmec head, Toltec stele, and screaming tribal gente converging on a grotesque naked tiny-penised Donald Trump. A jaguar opens its jaws to swallow the cowering Trump, who stands in a pool of his own urine.
No pressure to acquire it; Cheech took one look at it, the artist tells me, and bought it. |
| Cici Segura-Gonzalez' canvas is immediately purchased by a museum |
Gallerists Steven Acevedo and Daniel Gonzalez announced the closing with a powerful month-long exhibition of work exemplifying the gallery’s practice of hanging new names and diverse styles alongside established artists advancing their artistry.
Bargain hunting collectors weren’t scavenging the walls; ChimMaya prices are (were) affordably low low low. The represented artists, like the gallery, want their work to hang in people’s homes so they don't charge millionaire's prices, it's an inherent compadre discount.
A few hundred dollars or under $3000 for exquisite quality are bargains already. People line up at the cashier to pay asking price and chatter how they wish they could afford one or two more. The people with two pieces regret passing up that third gem. Sad-eyed gente stand away browsing the $25.00 cases knowing even these are out of range.
Daniel Gonzalez and Michael Sedano
ChimMaya tapped an ill-served demand when only northeast LA’s Ave50Studio (link) regularly hosted art shows in the metropolitan area.
Ave50 remains as “the other” razacentric art gallery on the eastside, with freeway-distant Pomona galleries the next best thing. Casa0101 has a tiny gallery space. Plaza de La Raza hangs large shows intermittently and could take up the slack.
A ver.
With the farewell to Steven and Daniel, the local art market hovers in limbo between westside galleries who would welcome the traffic--maybe--and what remains to be seen over here east of the LA river.
Ave atque vale, ChimMaya Gallery.
