Chicago Art Department

1837 S Halsted St, Chicago
Opening reception March 7, 2009, 6-10pm
Art walk, March 13, 2009, 6-10pm

In the second coming of Tripa Colectivo, Mike Wilgus joins the experimental artist group in their continued exploration of culture and gender issues embedded in the mundane. This collective, co-founded by Jova Durán and Abraham Velázquez Tello in 2007, seeks to create support and representation for Latino and Chicago artists alike. Tripa’s mission has been greatly aided by the Chicago Art Department, for which Velázquez is now a resident artist.

“Evita el Exceso” warns of the dangers of obsessive consumption. Information and object overload is deforming personal identity and violating the space of interaction between human beings. Relationships are mediated by materialism rather than being born out of real connections. The public space is controlled by rhetoric not reality. We are the overload. We are what we consume. We are the excess. Beware.

Jova “el grafista” Durán (b. 1984, Chicago) engages in painting on everyday life surfaces, many of which are assembled from salvaged materials. His work manifests itself as a reaction to alienation from the creative act in a culture that outsources the majority of its material production.

Abraham Velázquez Tello (b. 1985, Mexico City) experiments with a variety of media that allows him to investigate gender issues within the Latino community. His curiosity for seldom explored places continues with a new series of photographs from Mexico City in which he documents a new interpretation of old ruins.

Mike Wilgus (b. 1984 St. Louis) uses media that ranges from more traditional watercolors to contemporary sharpies and spray paint. He creates work that revolves around his obsession with culture, religion, consumerism, and the intersection of these phenomena.

Cafe Mestizo

1646 W 18th St, Chicago
Opening reception Nov. 10, 2008, 6-10pm

Dos de Tripa features the first round of work created under the new experimental artist collective, “Tripa Colectivo.”  Based in Chicago, Tripa explores issues of culture, gender and the mundane. It executes work in various mediums, from painting on found objects to printmaking and photography.

Jova “el grafista” Durán (b. 1984, Chicago), experiments with painting on ‘everyday life’ surfaces, creating work that analyzes his surroundings.

Abraham Velázquez Tello (b. 1985, Mexico City), examines seldom explored places. Recent work also challenges gender issues of Latino males.