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La Pera Projects restarts its artistic programming with a Curators’ series that will present the practice of 4 renowned curators over the next two months. With the series, we aim to bring attention to the curator's role in developing the contemporary art discourse. We are delighted to start with Omar López-Chahoud, independent curator and artistic director of UNTITLED, ART fair, who is introducing us to the work of Studio Lenca, aka Jose Campos.

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Campos’ practice amplifies the history and culture of his native El Salvador through contemporary portraiture and social practice-inspired installations. Working with performance, video, painting, and sculpture, his work often starts through personal memories, creative activism, or underpinned by different forms of praxis.

 

The experience of being uprooted—the artist left La Paz in the ’80s during the civil war and grew up in San Francisco— serves as a framework for themes of identity, belonging, and oppression in the work. As a queer member of the Latinx diaspora, the work of Jose Campos also addresses ideas surrounding difference, knowledge, and visibility. 

 

Regarding his alias, Campos notes, “I work under the name of ‘Studio Lenca’ as the language of ‘studio’ refers to a space for experimentation and a place that is constantly shifting. Lenca refers to my ancestors of my native El Salvador.“

 

Omar López- Chahoud is an independent curator and the Artistic Director of UNTITLED, Art Fair in Miami since its founding in 2012. In addition, López-Chahoud has recently joined YES Contemporary as its International Director. As an independent curator, López-Chahoud has curated and co-curated numerous exhibitions in the United States and internationally. He is currently a member of the Bronx Museum Acquisitions Committee. López-Chahoud earned MFAs from Yale University School of Art, and the Royal Academy of Art in London.

 

Jose Campos has a MA Arts & Learning from Goldsmiths University of London (2019), Art & Design PGCE from Goldsmiths University of London (2015), and a MA Contemporary Dance from the London Contemporary Dance School (2013). He’s been an artist-in-residence at the South London Gallery and has presented at Goldsmiths University, the Horniman Museum, and the Embassy of El Salvador in the United Kingdom.