Descriptions are not important, what’s important is to dream about what hides behind the images, especially those that captivate. And so I embark in portraying the works of Juan and Ricardo Compean. They are part of the Desafinados show at Co-Prosperity Sphere Sept. 30 to Oct. 8. On Oct. 7. They will also be part of the Punk Art Panel. They are Chicago artists who have dealt with issues relevant to the Latino community and this is evident in their body of work. It is up to the viewer to dream and arrive at what lies within their pieces. What follows are my interpretations of some of their work as well as conversations I had with the artists. So let us dive into the worlds of the Compean brothers through their work and words. It is a mental and visual challenge that will surpass the imagination.
As artists they have collaborated on a number of works such as the “Immigration Cup”, a foosball machine they built. This infamous piece that will be exhibited at Desafinados was part of the National Museum of Mexican Art’s “A Declaration of Immigration”. According to Ricardo, the game is a great way to explore the topic of immigration. It goes beyond being a symbol of the immigration issue because it tackles it head on. Very aptly, the game has two eagles facing each other, both with a soccer ball over each countrys flags. The players are those people associated with the immigration debate on both sides. One finds people like Joe Arpaio (sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz.), Elvira Arellano (an undocumented immigrant turned activist), businessmen from both sides of the border who benefit and contribute to the immigration crisis, and U.S. soldiers who patrol the US/Mexican border. In addition, there are several figures who represent a cross-cultural exchange such as the punk rock guy (with a blue Mohawk) and the norteño guy. These two give face to the exchange of music between the two societies. Then there are the luchador and Ronald Mcdonald, both symbolizing the collision of each country’s economy and pop culture on each other. The remainder is the rest of us who are on the “front line”. They include housewives, African Americans, Chicanos, etc., everyone affected by immigration. All of these figures were individually sculpted and then cast in hard plastic using a silicone mold.
Another piece they worked on together is “Ofrenda a los perdidos.” As the title implies, it is an offering to the lost ones. And breaking from the traditional ofrendas common to the Day of the Dead, this ofrenda, this offering, is dedicated to street kids, winos, the homeless. To all those discarded, thrown away or forgotten souls in society. It gives a face to the faceless. The main image, “Virgen de los perdidos” was created by Ricardo. He painted it because of the time he spent in Mexico and on 21st Street. Ricardo says that he “always tripped out on the gangsters and winos, but he designed it more on a wild street-level energy.” To him the “perdidos” are the gangsters, drug addicts and homies, those invisible ones that abound the city streets and alleys.
The structures at each side of the virgin were built by both of them. They resemble the back porches that are common throughout Chicago. They were built with discarded pieces of wood and decorated with bottle caps, wire, twine and other material collected from alleys. The piece is a visual path of these “perdidos” view from the alleys, as well as their journey through life. Juan says, “The paper mache liquor bottles were also made by us and decorated by friends.” All the details described can be appreciated as one looks at the three pieces as a whole. Together they come alive leaving the viewer haunted by its meaning. From the man on the porch looking at the alley, to death playing a red violin. The detail in these pieces captures our vision from the framing, made by using letter patterns covering the surface and mirroring images, to the zigzagging of the endless stairs.
Juan’s “1952”has become a personal favorite, mostly because of the stairs, porches and the layers of figures that resemble letters depending on ones mood and perspective. According to him,this is also related to theletter pattern series he has developed using calligraphy. This reveals how he overlays letters over photos he has taken of the city. “1952” is one of the first pictures from that series, it is the back of one of the places where he used to live.
Juan and Ricardo each document Chicago from their own viewpoint. For example, the idea behind Juan’s “Orange Line” was simply the fact that he likes to document the infrastructure of the city. This is the orange line as seen from the Chinatown area. And again he overlaid letter patterns over it. “18th and State” is one of those paintings that is full of familiar sights and associations due to nostalgic reasons. It is one of those pieces that, regardless of the passing of time, it manages to pull the viewer because it’s so evocative. Perhaps it’s also because he loves the curves of the orange line at this location, which is the reason why he chose to paint it.
In “Hobo Rat” one is struck by the sight of a rat and pigeons. Juan says that these animals “are vermin, just like the human race,” and that he’s been using them recently because he loves to put them in human situations. For this particular piece, he says he started sketching the rats and pigeons doing various things such as dancing, drinking, smoking, weightlifting and loving. Then he created a background pattern out of them and began to overlay the main image of the hobo rat above it. He says that in his current work he has built more on this idea. Adding, “I’ve moved on to using linocuts to build up the background pattern instead of photoshop/photocopiers and painting over them in acrylic paint.Most of my work starts as ink/pencil sketches. I use photocopiers and Photoshop to adjust the images to my liking. Once Im happy with where I want to go with an image, I increase its size.” He relies on pictures he’s taken for city themed work. He likes to document architectural details on the buildings downtown. Adding that he’s also a news junkie and a people watcher, and that this has helped him develop the city vermin motif.
Ricardo did a series of paintings called the “Harrison Park Pool Set.” These came about during the time his daughter, Roxana, took swimming lessons. She is now on the swimming team. As a parent he spent a lot of time at practice with her. The practices are two hours long five days a week. After a while he decided to paint while he waited. Naturally, the swimmers and the surroundings became his subject. The pool at Harrison Park looks vibrant and full of movement. The swimmers and the water all seem to be in motion. This is best exemplified in “Spring Light Coming,” where indeed the light captures every silhouette. The perspective of the painting faces the stained glass windows of the place, and the viewer can see the shapes of the trees, a building in the background, and in the foreground the kids swimming and floating in the greens and blues of the water. This painting is a study in form, outline, lineation and patterns. Some of the portraits in the series are in black and white, and despite this, they capture the essence of the scene in its totality. What is most striking in these pieces is their size, which ranges from 9×12 and smaller.
Ricardo likes to do plein air painting. He says “it became a no brainer. Compositions and story were set! It was awesome to capture, or at least try, the movement and energy of the team.”Ricardo has been painting since high school. He says that his first real influence in wanting to paint was his brother, Juan. Saying that one day he came home from school and he started working on a cubist painting. This made him realize that with painting you could look at everything around you or inside of you and express it in different ways. Ricardo has been a tattoo artist for 14 years and describes himself as a”street-shop tattooer.” He adds that the difference between painting and tattooing, aside from the tools, is the approach. “With a tattoo you get one shot,” he says.
He hopes that Desafinadosmotivates the next generation of punks, artists and social activists to carry on the torch. That it incites them to “pick up the ideas that have been carried by people that are ‘out of tune’ with the norm.” As well as for there to be another wave of bands to add to the ideas and sounds that “we as a collective group or neighborhood sang or expressed.”
He feels his input as an artist and activist was in the early 2000s when he helped a wave of bands put together material for their groups by making patches, shirts or posters for them. Ricardo worked with Yollocalli and Pros Arts in order to teach art to the neighborhood youth. When I mentioned to him that I still have my Pilsen t-shirt, he said, “Glad ya still got the shirt! The first runs were the best!”
The Compean brothers’ styles are different in how they portray places in the city of Chicago. But when they conspire the differences become compatible. One looks at Juan’s paintings, at least the landscapes, and is struck by the familiar. By familiar I mean the shapes, faces, figures and overall geometry within them. This is pronounced in most of his work. Ricardo also depicts everyday scenery that transmits ideas. His settings strike the viewer in the way he approaches commonplaces like the neighborhood pool, and displays the beauty they express.
This is a mere exploration into their oeuvre. Into how they receive and transmit ideas, how they capture moments in time and make them tangible to the senses. Their worlds become the observer’s world. Each, in their own way, teaches us how to learn to see. A great piece of art makes you think, feel and see beyond the realms of what is expressing. One thing about the Compean brothers is that, whether it is a scene from a pool or the angles and curves of a train line, the outline of a road or highway, a dancing inebriated rat, or the shape of kids swimming, when one looks at their work, the mind is transported. Where? That is for each individual to decide. In their own way and style they make the ordinary come alive like thoughts in movement. Their work transports us to an experience outside of ourselves. One thing that is striking is that one looks at their work and begins to take a different approach to seeing, not only the artwork, but our surroundings.
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Leticia Cortez is a teacher, writer, and activist. She was born in Mexico and grew up in Chicago. She travels the art world, both in her imagination and in her music, book, art and film reviews. She writes political essays, short stories and poetry. Presently she teaches Latin American Literature in English and Spanish at St. Augustine College