El Otro Lado
Filter Photo is pleased to present an exhibition by El Otro Lado, a collective of four Mexican-American artists—Carol Bedoy, Maximiliano Cervantes, Sophie Lopez, and Jennifer Teresa Villanueva.
The artists of El Otro Lado 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.
About the Artists
Carol Bedoy (b. 1998, Chicago, IL) received their BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. This upcoming Fall 2023, Bedoy will be joining New Curators with the South London Gallery. 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, TX) works in the borderlands of Harlingen, Texas and Mars. 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, IL) 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, IL) 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).
On View: June 23rd – August 5th, 2023
Location: Filter Space | 1821 W Hubbard St, Suite 207
This exhibition was partially sponsored by The Illinois Arts Council Agency.