Joint-Artist talk:
Sam Kirk and Joseph Josue Mora
April 27th at 12pm
Join us at Chicago Art Department Saturday, April 27th at 4 pm for a joint artist talk with CAD Core Artists in Residence, Sam Kirk and Joseph Josué Mora. Moderated by Franky Piña, Kirk and Mora will discuss the conceptual similarities, overlap and formal differences of their work that span themes of labor, immigration, representation, assigned meanings, community and value.
Clearance is a solo exhibition featuring the work of Joseph Josue Mora. Looking at the different ways of bureaucracies, infrastructures, and (in)accessibilities, Mora uses art handling materials and cues to mirror issues of immigration stemming from his experiences as an art handler, DACA recipient and person living the U.S. Mora’s experimentations with material, installation and performances draws parallels between the art and political world.
The Alchemy of Us: A journey of identity features the work of CAD Core Artist, Sam Kirk. A journey of identity is unique and personal to each person, the community they are exposed to and the lives they experience which shape their lens. It’s not universal and it can be as microcosmic as a city and a neighborhood. The Alchemy of Us: A journey of identity includes several new mixed media artworks that share the narratives and experience of individuals in various marginalized communities.
Franky Piña is Cultural promoter, transgender activist, writer and graphic designer. She has co-founded several past and present cultural and literary magazines in Chicago: Fe de erratas, zorros y erizos, Tropel and Contratiempo. She is the co-author of the book Rudy Lozano: His Life, His People (Workshop in Community Studies, 1991). Piña was also featured in Se habla español: Voces latinas en USA (Alfaguara, 2000) and Voces en el viento: Nuevas ficciones desde Chicago (Esperante, 1999). She functioned both as editor and publisher of the following art catalogues: Marcos Raya: Fetishizing the Imaginary (2004), The Art of Gabriel Villa (2007), René Arceo: Between the Instinctive and the Rational (2010), Alfonso Piloto Nieves Ruiz: Sculpture (Editorial El BéiSMan, 2014), Barberena: Master Prints(2016), and Raya: The Fetish of Pain (2017). Currently, she is the executive director of El BeiSMan, a non-profit collective of journalists and educators that produces a bilingual digital magazine. Piña is also the Chair of the Chicago Latin@s Authors Book Fair