Claudia Luna Fuentes & Pepx Romero
Claudia Luna Fuentes and Pepx Romero join Hi-ARTS in a first of its kind engagement as resident artists of theurbanX.org, an international Artist Residency Program, currently being supported through our SKY LAB Residency program. Think of it as a residency within a residency! During their time with theurbanX.org at Hi-ARTS, Claudia and Pepx will each continue the development of their respective practices and projects. Both artists work in unique contexts that nonetheless speak expansively to the vision and intention of theurbanX.org’s mission and Hi-ARTS SKY LAB Residency.
theurbanX.org is an international arts residency program that connects Black and Brown creatives across the diaspora through the lens of urban culture. theurbanX.org harnesses the power of urban culture and the arts to build bridges across borders, share knowledge and resources in community, and empower creators of the global majority. Learn more about Bryan Joseph Lee, Founder and Co-Curator and V(ivianne) A. Njoku, Co-Curator here.
“It is our hope that these artists will have an opportunity to share some of their visions for exploring and creating their work for the first time in NYC, and can also participate in a multi-dimensional dialogue around place-ness, personhood, and community. theurbanX.org invites all of our artists to anchor thinking about the arcs of their individual residencies through our 3 pillars of Connexion, Expansion and Exchange, and we hope that we can extend this invitation to all who encounter their work through our Hi-Arts residency as well.” — theurbanx.org
Claudia Luna Fuentes will continue the development of A Vast Landscape of Ruins, a series of works in which the artist builds a visual glossary from the basic shapes that she has found on her walks, and makes a correspondence between these blocks and the sculpture. Claudia simulates the scale of these volumes with cardboard and applies acrylic paint of different colors to generate compositions that modify the bodily experience in the exhibition space and public space. She is interested in working with fragile materials, as opposed to the characteristics of the original cement blocks; so that the work turns out to be light, mobile, soft and colorful.
Claudia will invite audiences to join her for a guided walking tour for A Vast Landscape of Ruins in which participants will join the artist to tour outdoor areas surrounding Hi-ARTS, and Hi-ARTS Gallery and Studio Spaces. She will share her process, discuss her works and observations and welcome walkers to see traveling on foot as an act of resistance.
“Traveling through Mexico City on foot is an act of resistance in itself. To trivialize the regulatory functionality of public architecture is a way to reverse the frustration of your transient body.” — Claudia Luna Fuentes
While Pepx Romero has gained much notoriety for his work as a performance artist, during this residency, he is returning to theater - his original love. Pepx will direct a dramatized reading of the first act of the theatrical work, Israel, by José Revueltas, and an unexpected ending. This is the first theatrical work of the writer, essayist and Mexican political activist, José Revueltas (1914-76, Durango, México). The work was first presented 1948 in a national electricians union in Mexico City, and for the second time in 2017 under Pepx Romero's direction in Durango, with Mexican actors. Israel is a 3-act drama that tells the story of the Smiths, a Black American family from a small county in Texas, that suffered the havocs of racism as the result of the murder of a white woman that happened outside of their cabin, located at the edge of the highway near Amapola Village, an old cotton plantation that was invaded and converted to a petroleum camp by white men.
Both artists will share work in a co-curated gallery exhibition entitled CDMX x NYC: A Co-Curated Gallery Exhibition by theurbanX.org. CDMX x NYC features work by both artists: a series of paintings by Claudia that explores her ongoing conversation with geometries of the urban environment, and visual art by Pepx that captures key moments from his recent controversial performance of kissing and licking pre-Hispanic sculptures in Ciudad de Mexico's Museum of Anthropology.
Pepx Romero (they/he) began their professional theater studies at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua in 2010 and received their Acting Degree from the National School of Theater Art at the National Institute of Fine Arts in 2014. His artistic career expands outside the limits of the theatrical tradition, dabbling in various disciplines, such as Performance, advertising and plastic arts.
Romero’s artistic work has been presented in independent, institutional and mass entertainment venues such as the Palacio de Bellas Artes (CDMX), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Whole Festival (Berlin), Fol- som Street Art Fair (San Francisco), Sonar Festival (CDMX), Tag Festival (CDMX), Ceremonia Festival (CDMX), Nrmal Festival (CDMX), Ricardo Castro Theater (Durango), National Center for the Arts (CDMX), UNAM’s Museo universitario del chopo (CDMX), UNAM Eco Experimental Museum (CDMX), Cumbre Tajin Festival (Veracruz), Center for Indigenous Arts (Papantla, Veracruz) Cultural Center of the Forest (CDMX), 38th National Theater Show (LEON), Mustache Mondays (Los Angeles), Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art (CDMX) , La teatreria (CDMX), Cine Tonalá (CDMX), Kuir Bogota Festival (Bogota), and the International Festival of Sexual Diversity (CDMX).
He currently resides in Mexico City, Mexico. Since 2017 he has been the Artistic and Stage Director of the drag talent and staging promoter Bonita Mx. He is one of the founders of Traición, the music and performance Queer collective, established in 2015 with 43 editions to date in CDMX, Paris, London, Los Angeles, Berlin, San Francisco and Bogotá. In 2022 he obtained a research sponsorship grant from the JUMEX ARTE CONTEMPORANEO FOUNDATION.
Claudia Luna Fuentes (she/her) received her Master's in Visual Arts at the Postgraduate Program of Arts and Design at UNAM and a Bachelor's in Visual Arts at ENAP, UNAM. She was part of the third edition of the Art Critique Circle (directed by Fabiola Menchelli, 2022), as well as the Eighth Diploma in Visual Arts Production (CaSa San Agustín, Oaxaca, 2019) and the Seminar in Photographic Production at the Centro de la Imagen (CDMX, 2018).
Her most recent solo exhibitions include Superficies suaves para recorridos adversos (Smooth Surfaces for Adverse Journeys), Estudio Marte (CDMX, 2023), Junkspace, Satélite Galería (Querétaro, 2018), Cimientos, escombros y colisiones (Foundations, Debris, and Collisions), Museo de Arte de Sinaloa (Sinaloa, 2016), De la nada a más que nada (From Nothing to More Than Nothing), Galería Antonio Ramírez (CDMX, 2013). She was part of the group exhibition Yo era muy bueno tirando piedras 2 (I Was Very Good at Throwing Stones 2), La Tallera (Cuernavaca, 2021), No es común pero aquí sí (It's Not Common, But Here It Is), Archivo Colectivo (CDMX, 2020), and the National Biennial of Emerging Art in Monterrey (Monterrey, 2019), among others.
She has been invited to participate in various artistic residencies such as Hollufgård Art Residence (Odense, 2022), Cobertizo (Jilotepec, 2019), and the BAiR Late Winter Intensive Residency (Banff, 2015). She received the Fonca Young Creators grant (2018-2019 and 2013-2014), was selected for the 12x12 Production Program: Emerging Art at MASIN (Sinaloa, 2016), and participated in the Artistic Training Clinic within the framework of the XXXII National Youth Art Encounter (Aguascalientes, 2012). Her work has been published in Time Out México magazine (2020), Revista de la Universidad de México (2019), Tierra Adentro Nº195 (2014), and Pliego 16 of the Fundación para las Letras Mexicanas (2013).
Durante su residencia, Claudia Luna Fuentes sigue con el desarollo de Un vasto paisaje de ruinas, en que la artista construye un glosario visual a partir de las formas básicas que ha encontrado en sus paseos, y establece una correspondencia entre estos bloques y la escultura: simula la escala de estos volúmenes con cartón y aplica acrílico. Pintura de diferentes colores para generar composiciones que modifiquen la experiencia corporal en el espacio expositivo y el espacio público. Le interesa trabajar con materiales frágiles, contrarios a las características de los bloques de cemento originales; para que la obra resulte ligera, móvil, suave y colorida.
“Recorrer la Ciudad de México a pie es un acto de resistencia en sí mismo. Trivializar la funcionalidad regulatoria de la arquitectura pública es una forma de revertir la frustración de su cuerpo transitorio”. — Claudia Luna Fuentes
Claudia invita al público a unirse con ella para Un vasto paisaje de ruinas, un recorrido íntimo a pie en el que los participantes se unirán al artista en un paseo por las áreas al aire libre que rodean Hi-ARTS, y Hi-ARTS Gallery and Studio Spaces. Ella compartirá su proceso, discutirá sus trabajos y observaciones y dará la bienvenida a los caminantes para que vean viajar a pie como un acto de resistencia.
Durante su tiempo de residencia, le artista Pepx Romero dirige la lectura dramatizada del primer acto de la obra de teatro Israel de José Revueltas (1914-76, Durango, México), y un final inesperado. Esta es la primera obra de teatro escrita por el importante escritor, ensayista y activista político mexicano Jose Revuelas y presentada por primera vez en 1948 en el teatro del sindicato nacional de electricistas de la Ciudad de México y por segunda ocasión en 2017 bajo la dirección de Pepx Romero en la ciudad de Durango con actores mexicanos.
Claudia Luna Fuentes (ella) estudió la Maestría en Artes Visuales en el Posgrado de Artes y Diseño de la UNAM y la Licenciatura en Artes Visuales en la ENAP, UNAM. Formó parte del la tercera edición del Círculo de Crítica de Obra (dirigido por Fabiola Menchelli, 2022), así como del Octavo Diplomado de producción de Artes Visuales (CaSa San Agustín, Oaxaca, 2019) y del Seminario de Producción Fotográfica del Centro de la Imagen (CDMX, 2018).
Sus más recientes muestras individuales incluyen, Superficies suaves para recorridos adversos, Estudio Marte (CDMX, 2023), Junkspace, Satélite Galería (Querétaro, 2018), Cimientos, escombros y colisiones, Museo de Arte de Sinaloa (Sinaloa, 2016), De la nada a más que nada, Galería Antonio Ramírez (CDMX, 2013). Formó parte de la exposición colectiva Yo era muy bueno tirando piedras 2, La Tallera (Cuernavaca, 2021), No es común pero aquí sí, Archivo Colectivo (CDMX, 2020) y la Bienal Nacional de Arte Emergente de Monterrey (Monterrey, 2019), entre otras.
Ha sido invitada a participar en distintas residencias artísticas como Hollufgård Art Residence (Odense, 2022), Cobertizo (Jilotepec, 2019) y residencia BAiR Late Winter Intensive (Banff, 2015). Recibió la beca Fonca Jóvenes Creadores (2018-2019 y 2013-2014), fue seleccionada en el Programa de producción 12x12: Arte Emergente MASIN (Sinaloa, 2016), y la en Clínica de formación artística en el marco del XXXII Encuentro Nacional de Arte Joven (Aguascalientes 2012). Su obra ha sido publicada en la revista Time out México (2020), Revista de la Universidad de México (2019), Tierra Adentro Nº195 (2014) y Pliego 16 Fundación para las Letras Mexicanas (2013).
Pepx Romero (elle/el) comienza en 2010 sus estudios profesionales de teatro en la Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, y es Alumno de la licenciatura en actuación en la Escuela Nacional de Arte Teatral del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes de 2012 a 2014.
Su trayectoria artística se expande fuera de los limites de la tradición teatral, incursionando en diversas disciplinas, tales como el Performance, la publicidad y las artes plásticas.
Su trabajo artístico se ha presentado en recintos independientes, institucionales y de espectáculos masivos como, Palacio de Bellas Artes (CDMX), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Whole Festival (Berlin), Folsom Street Art Fair (San Francisco) ,Sonar Festival (CDMX), Tag Festival (CDMX), Festival Ceremonial (CDMX), Nrmal Festival ( CDMX), Teatro Ricardo Castro ( Durango), Centro Nacional de las Ar- tes(CDMX), Museo universitario del chopo UNAM (CDMX), Museo Experimental Eco UNAM (CDMX), Festival Cumbre Tajin (Veracruz) , Centro de Artes Indigenas ( Papantla, Veracruz) Centro Cultural del Bosque (CDMX) , 38 Muestra Nacional de Teatro (LEON), Mustache Mondays (Los Angeles), Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo (CDMX), La teatreria (CDMX), Cine Tonalá ( CDMX) , Festival Kuir Bogota (Bogota), Festival Internacional de la Diversidad Sexual ( CDMX). Actualmente reside en la CDMX. Desde 2017 es director artístico y escénico de la promotora de talento drag y puesta en escena Bonita Mx. Es uno de los fundadores del colectivo de música y performance queer Traición que nació en el 2015, con 43 ediciones a la fecha en CDMX, Paris, Londres, Los Angeles, Berlin,San Francisco y Bogota. En 2022 obtiene la beca de patrocinios de investigación de la FUNDACION JUMEX ARTE CONTEMPORANEO.
Program Highlights
