No End in Sight - Exhibition

Artist Statement

This project is part part of an ongoing public-intervention for which figurines of the artist and his family were created for a vending machine that sell 2 inch figurines of "Boricuas" (Puerto Ricans) in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood.

To address his concerns, with the social image this vending machine sold of 'Boricuas', he has inserted the figurines inside (the vending machines located in Humboldt Park), and joined the Boricua toy series to create a critical and humorous statement.

Family Biography

Each of these bios was inserted inside the ‘Boricua’ toy machine with their respective figurine.

Miriam N. Carrasquillo Gonzalez

Miriam was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, in the sweltering tropical summer of 1954. It was raining. The hospital didn’t have a roof. She’s the oldest of four children, but looks like the youngest. She’s also the only girl, which was tough luck for her brothers, who had no hand-me-downs. She grew up in tiny Esteves, never dreaming she’d end up in Chicago someday. Miriam has two children, Joel and Josue (she likes to use the same letters because it saves on stationary costs). Her husband is Luis I. Carrasquillo Quintana –perhaps you have his limited-edition action figure. Sra. Carrasquillo Gonzalez is well known on the block or her cooking skills, and delights the children with her Mofongo shaped like the island.

Luis I Carrasquillo Quintana

The third of seven children, Luis was born in Caguas in the chilly – sorry – warm November of 1946. When Luis was 18, he moved to New York because there weren’t enough Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico for him. He worked as a cab driver for some years (sometimes even picking up fares), and next moved to Chicago (aged 24 years) and has wanted to move away ever since. For the past 16 years, he’s been a supervisor at the Wertheimer Box Corporation, where he’s seen his share of corrugation. Luis is a home owner in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago, and counts his dollars as the neighborhood gentrifies. He enjoys the long-suffering Chicago Cubs of the National Baseball League.

Josué Pellot Gonzalez

Having been born in Puerto Rico (Mayaguez, 1979 – wearing bell-bottoms) but raised in the U.S. since the age of five, Traveling back and forth from the Island and Chicago Josue feels that he’s somewhere between these two cultures, probably in the Bahamas. Jose – sorry, JosUe (h!.sw", ho.sway, ho.sue.ehh) – grew up between Humboldt Park and Logan square where he was introduced to art thru Graffiti and Hip Hop. He went to high school at Kelvyn Park on Chicago’s northwest side and then received a BFA from UIC with a minor (VERY minor) in Biology. Despite all this, he was awarded an MA from Northwestern in Art Theory and Practice (the theory being if you practice, you’ll improve – thus he keeps trying!). He’s now a Chicago-based artist, which is much more weather-proof than a latex-based one.

Joel Pellot Gonzalez

Joel is the brother of Josue (collect the entire family!), born one year, one month, and three days (to the date!) before his younger brother in the same town of Mayaguez. In fact, mother Miriam simply stayed in the hospital and waited between sons. In addition to Josue, Joel has two sisters and one more brother and he’s had enough education for all of them. He graduated Academia Adventista in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, received an Associate’s Degree from Wright College in Chicago, and got a BS in perfusion from Rush University in 2002. He returned to Puerto Rico and works as the Chief Perfusionist at Pavia Hospital in lovely San Juan. If you don’t know what a perfusionist is now, you will someday - when you need heart surgery. Aside from working in the hospital, Joel is an aerosol artist and pieces with S.I. crew, some of whom he has perfused.

EDUCATION

1997-2003 University of Illinois at Chicago
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Major: Studio Arts with a minor in Biological Sciences

2004-2006 Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
Masters in Art theory and Practice

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2004 Bodega Dreams, Galleria Tinta Roja, Chicago IL.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2007 Familiar Portraits, Polvo, Chicago, IL.

2006 Cultural Crossings, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL.
Salad Days Rowland contemporary Chicago, IL.
MFA Exhibition, Northwestern University Evanston, IL.
Sao Paolo in San Juan (performance), Museo de Arte Puerto Rico, San Juan, P.R.
Galeria Carlos Irizarry, San Juan, P.R.
Postcolonialism and After, Covenant Gallery/Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Light, XXII International Art Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia

2004 Inter Americano, Federal Reserve Bank, Chicago, IL.

2003 BFA Thesis Show, Gallery 400 University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL

2001 Site-ing the Wall ,GBU Gallery University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Off the Wall, University Of Washington Rome Center, Rome, Italy

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Riera, Alejandro "La Bodega como Símbolo de una Cultura", HOY, June 18, 2004 pg.18 Chicago. IL.

Davenport, Misha "Local artist encapsulates stereotypes", Chicago Sun-time, October 13, 2004 pg.16 Chicago. IL.

Toro Ortiz, Ana Teresa "Boricuas en Capsulas", El Nuevo Día, December 11, 2006 pg. 78-79 San Juan, P.R.

AWARDS

Community Arts Assistance Program Grant, The City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs Chicago, ll.

Illinois Art Council, Assistance Grant (IAC) Chicago, Il. (04',06')

Northwestern University Research Grant

COLLECTIONS

University of Illinois, Chicago