Guadalupe Rosales, the artist behind the Instagram archives Veteranas and Rucas and Map Pointz, released her debut memoir on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
"East of the River: A Memoir of Los Angeles Girlhood" is a 304-page hardcover published by One World, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and priced at $35. The book blends personal narrative with old family photos, hand-drawn party flyers and party crew memorabilia. Its cover features Rosales and her sister at a 1997 party in City Terrace.
Rosales, 45, grew up in Boyle Heights and East LA during the 1980s and 1990s. The memoir traces her path through foster care, family instability and loss, according to an interview she gave LA Local's Kamren Curiel. She told Curiel she hadn't planned to write a memoir at all, but was encouraged to write her own story as "the heartbeat of the book."
Rosales launched Veteranas and Rucas and Map Pointz in 2015 after a decade living in New York. Veteranas and Rucas celebrates 1990s LA women. Map Pointz focuses on the party crew scene.
"Party crews and flyers weren't being talked about," she told LA Local. "I wanted to see who else kept those things. That's how I started building those pages."
Her work now hangs in the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, according to her publisher. She recently exhibited at the Venice Biennale and released a collaborative photography book, "Tumbados: Lowriding Memories and Cruising Futures," through MIT Press.
Angelenos can meet Rosales at two upcoming events. Skylight Books in Los Feliz hosts an in-store discussion Monday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. RSVP is required. On Thursday, Sept. 17, LACMA hosts "In Conversation: Guadalupe Rosales, Carolina Miranda, and Pilar Tompkins Rivas," moderated by curator Rita Gonzalez, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the David Geffen Galleries, 5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Upcoming events
- Monday, Sept. 14, 7 p.m. — Guadalupe Rosales at Skylight Books, Los Feliz. In-store. RSVP to attend.
- Thursday, Sept. 17, 6–7 p.m. — "In Conversation: Guadalupe Rosales, Carolina Miranda, and Pilar Tompkins Rivas." LACMA, David Geffen Galleries, 5905 Wilshire Blvd.
