El Otro Lado
Maximiliano Cervantes, How-To: Outline the Two Borders Surrounding South Texas, 2021. Inkjet print on paper. 40 × 30.75 in. Courtesy of the artist.
El Otro Lado is a collective of four Mexican-American artists—Carol Bedoy, Maximiliano Cervantes, Sophie Lopez, and Jennifer Teresa Villanueva—who use artistic labor to explore the dynamics of injustice and to examine what occurs when humans are labeled “illegal.” Using the camera as a tool to illuminate the visual language of exploited labor, the artists—all of whom are children of immigrant families—document the undocumented and visualize their inherited generational trauma. These artists attempt to navigate their own complicated identities in relation to their shared familial narratives, drawing upon the ways in which exploited labor and deportation have impacted these narratives across generations and over time.
El Otro Lado presents the stories of Latinx communities and confronts exploitative histories through still life, environmental portraiture, and the archive. Villanueva and Cervantes create portraits that document the domestic nuances of the working class, while Lopez and Bedoy mine their family archives to reconstruct history and track their family’s migration patterns. Considering the rapidly growing population of Latinx people in the United States, this exhibition highlights the urgent need for us to hear the voices of those navigating exploitation, oppression, and injustice, and for us to carve out space for these experiences to be shared.
El Otro Lado is organized by Carol Bedoy, Maximiliano Cervantes, Sophie Lopez, and Jennifer Teresa Villanueva, with Center Space Project.
Support for this exhibition and its programming provided by the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at The University of Texas at Austin.
El Otro Lado es un colectivo de cuatro artistas mexicano-americanos—Carol Bedoy, Maximiliano Cervantes, Sophie López y Jennifer Teresa Villanueva—que utilizan el trabajo artístico para explorar la dinámica de la injusticia y examinar lo que ocurre cuando cuando los seres humanos son etiquetados como "ilegales". Utilizando la cámara como herramienta para iluminar el lenguaje visual del trabajo explotado, los artistas, todos hijos de familias inmigrantes, documentan a los indocumentados y visualizan su trauma generacional heredado. Estos artistas intentan navegar por sus propias identidades complicadas en relación con sus narrativas familiares compartidas, aprovechando las formas en que el trabajo explotado y la deportación han impactado estas narrativas a través de generaciones y a lo largo del tiempo.
El Otro Lado presenta las historias de las comunidades latines y se enfrenta las historias de explotación a través de la naturaleza muerta, el retrato ambiental y el archivo. Villanueva y Cervantes crean retratos que documentan los matices domésticos de la clase trabajadora, mientras que López y Bedoy exploran sus archivos familiares para reconstruir la historia y rastrear los patrones migratorios de su familia. Teniendo en cuenta el rápido crecimiento de la población de personas latines en los Estados Unidos, esta exposición destaca la necesidad urgente de escuchar las voces de quienes navegan por la explotación, la opresión y la injusticia, y de crear un espacio para compartir estas experiencias.
El Otro Lado está organizado por Carol Bedoy, Maximiliano Cervantes, Sophie Lopez y Jennifer Teresa Villanueva, con Center Space Project.
Apoyo para esta exposición y programación proporcionado por el Centro para el Estudio de la Raza y la Democracia de la Universidad de Texas en Austin.
Artists
Carol Bedoy (b. 1998, Chicago, Illinois) received their BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. They have participated in group exhibitions at Heaven Gallery, Chicago (2021); SAIC Galleries, Chicago (2021); and Fiesta Del Sol, Chicago (2018). Their film, HOME (2020), has been screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago (2020). In 2018–2019, they curated exhibitions at SITE Galleries at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Maximiliano Cervantes (b. 1999, Harlingen, Texas) works in the borderlands of Harlingen, Texas. Cervantes received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021 and is a current MFA candidate at Northwestern University. He has participated in group exhibitions at Heaven Gallery, Chicago (2021); and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2021).
Sophie Lopez (b. 1999, Chicago, Illinois) received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2022, as well as a welding certificate from Chicago Women in Trades. She has participated in group exhibitions at Chicago Art Department (2022); SITE Galleries, Chicago (2021); James Kerney Campus Gallery, Trenton, NJ (2021); Heaven Gallery, Chicago (2021); and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2021). Lopez is a recipient of the Fred Endsley Memorial Fellowship (2021) and Aperture & Google’s Creator Lab Fund (2021).
Jennifer Teresa Villanueva (b. 1998, Chicago, Illinois) is an MFA candidate at The University of Texas at Austin. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2020. She has participated in group exhibitions at EXPO Chicago (2022); Visual Arts Center, Austin (2022); James Kerney Campus Gallery, Trenton, NJ (2021); Dominican University, River Forest, IL (2021); Sullivan Galleries, Chicago (2020); School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2019); and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2018). Villanueva is a recipient of the University of Texas at Austin Graduate Continuing Fellowship (2022), the University of Texas at Austin Graduate Recruitment Diversity Fellowship (2021), the Rauschenberg Artist Fund (2021), the Chicago Artist Coalition SPARK Grant (2021), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Office of Engagement: Race, Equity, and Inclusion Fellowship (2020), the Fred Endsley Memorial Fellowship (2020), the John W. Kurtich Foundation Travel Grant (2019), and the Bank of America Scholarship (2016).