Latinx Artist Fellowship

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Alberto Aguilar

Artist

Chicago, IL

https://albertoaguilar.org/

Instagram @albert0aguilar

I subvert, rearrange and juxtapose the things of life in an attempt to connect with the viewer. Learning is when our thoughts and ideas are challenged, making us see things anew.

Alberto Aguilar is a Chicago-based artist that uses life stuff as a pliable material to create a meaningful connection with the viewer. This could include language, everyday objects or actual situations he finds himself in. Through their reconfiguration, subversion, and juxtaposition, a new meaning reveals itself. Aguilar doesn’t distinguish his art practice from other various life roles which provides freedom allowing him to be more careful and present in situations. Alberto utilizes a self-imposed framework which gives him clear direction producing a generative and prolific output. He chooses to create outside of a studio setting in order to interact with others and experience the world more fully. Through asking questions and an openness of being directed by his surroundings, he regularly collaborates with others. Although written in third person, the artist arranged these three hundred words you are now reading in order to have a shared moment with you. What were you doing prior to reading this bio? 

Alberto is the recipient of the 3Arts Award and is the 2024 artist in residence at the Chicago Humanities Festival. He has shown at various museums, galleries, storefronts, and street corners around the world which include: The Queens Museum (NY), El Torito Supermercado (St. Louis), Minneapolis Institute of Art, Outside of the Dollar General on US-56 (Elkhart, KS), Museum of Contemporary Art (Detroit), The entrance of Chicago City Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Parque Fe Del Valle- a designated wifi area (Havana), National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), El Cosmico Trailer Park (Marfa), El Lobi (San Juan), I-80 rest stop (Iowa). Along with his daughter, Madeleine, he runs Mayfield, a multi-use space which operates on the grounds of their home. He teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. What will you do after you are done reading this?

Selected Works

Nine young people standing in an array of poses are loosely taped to a brick wall with white duct tape affixed at a variety of angles.
Three signs with bold text and bright colors hang in the window of a Mexican grocery store. The text reads “Local Patron Local,” “Inevitable Invasion Inevitable,” and “Crisis Invisible Crisis.”
A raised platform in a gallery features an array of objects resembling an altar. Suspended above the platform is a clear bowl full of plastic fruit, and colorful posters, paper picado, and an array of paintings, framed photographs, and a small shelf with candles hang from the wall behind it.