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I was born in Mexico City in 1988 and raised in the south side of Chicago. Working up to my “American Dream,” I received a B.A. in Studio Art from Northeastern Illinois University and a Master’s in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
During my studies, I exhibited my work at various galleries around town. Soon after I graduated, I moved to Belgium to join my husband and continue my career in Brussels.
As a Mexican-American artist living with HIV, I grew skeptical of the institutionalized art world.
As a two-time immigrant, I question my position in society.
My work is an investigation of personal social anxieties in an urban context, with an interest in chaos and imperfection.
While questioning the spectacle of perfection and my heritage, I explore the decolonization of my practice, ideals, and presentation within the Western world.
I make participatory and performative work, with a focus on community action. Engaging the viewer through divergent sexualities, gender, (de)colonization, and Mexican-American folklore.
My artistic practice is centered around the transformative power of repetition—doing, undoing, and redoing—to explore the complexities of existence as a brown, HIV+(poz) immigrant artist navigating a polarized Western society. Through deconstruction and reconstruction, my work reflects the fluctuating realities of life, marked by both progression and setbacks. In this journey, my art seeks to foster determination, empathy, and love in the face of adversity.
My creative process extends beyond the confines of purely visual art, embracing writing and performative elements to stimulate dialogue around the intersection of HIV and art, and through this the decolonization of my practice. The stage serves as a dynamic medium for me to engage audiences in conversations that transcend conventional boundaries, urging them to contemplate the unspoken, the taboo, and depths of personal emotions.
My sculptures, crafted from reclaimed textiles, and found materials symbolize my dedication to revealing beauty and purpose amidst chaos. While applying sustainable practices, I aim to challenge societal constructs of consumption, labor, borders, gender, and sexuality.
Drawing from the realm of primary emotional story arcs, I explore the nuances of tragedy, vulnerability, and tenacity in my work. As I look towards the future, my artistic journey is guided by the following poetic expression of my motivations as a metaphor describing calico fabric, used to make test garments in clothes-making:
Unfinished, unprocessed
husky, musky, yellow-tinged and light
your very existence captures the essence of armor
heavy, plain-woven, unbleached, and coarse
soft and jagged edges you achieve and endorse
historically woven by cāliyan hands
the undone remnants of garments reclaimed
a new purpose in processed pieces remains
oh calico, as unfinished and unprocessed as you may exist
you are refined, versatile, adjustable and are bright
from flat-rolled to form-built and back
you are now, once again flattened, but with character and brack.
This poem encapsulates my commitment to pushing artistic boundaries and fostering conversations about the issues that matter most, through the transformative power of sculpture, illustration, writing, and performance.
EMMANUEL CORTES
03.06.1988 Mexico City, MX
cortes.manny@gmail.com
+32 486 08 00 73
EDUCATION
2024
Write it Out!
10 week
Online
course on Play Writing
with Donja R. Love and Lee Raines
2015-2017
University of Illinois at Chicago,
Chicago USA. M.A. Urban Planning and Policy
2009-2013
Northeastern Illinois University,
Chicago USA. B.A. in Studio Art
CAREER
2025
- Costume design:
(February) for the film This, too, was a gift
by Janos Tedeschi
2024
- Co-Director:
Aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium
- Public Reading:
(December) “S.H.A.R.E.” a play by Emmanuel Cortés
The Center. New York, NY.
- Performance:
(December) “Unpacking Serophobia, Migration, and Race through HIV Narratives”
Kaai Theatre. Brussels.
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Residencies:
(July) “aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium”
Kunstencentrum BUDA. Kortrijk.
(March) “aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium”
La Bellone. Brussels.
2023
- Co-Director:
Aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium
Performance
(December) “Whose aids?”
Kaai Theatre. Brussels.
-
Residencies:
(July & August) “aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium”
Kunstencentrum BUDA. Kortrijk.
(April) “aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium”
La Bellone. Brussels.
2022
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Residency:
DROA community mural painting, Brussels, BE
2021
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Group Exhibitions:
“Not allowed glitter’s time”
Recyclart. Brussels, BE
“The Common Ground”
Lamina, Gallerie Toison d’Or. Brussels, BE
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Curator:
“Exquisite mail 1.1 and 1.2”
Artist Commons asbl. Brussels, BE
2020
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Grant:
“Culturele activiteitenpremie”
Brussels, BE
-
Group Exhibitions:
“Revolte”
Point Culture, Brussels, BE
“Artist Commons takeover”
Parcours D’artistes Saint-Gilles, Cunst-Link, Brussels, BE
2019
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Solo exhibition:
“Masked Appropration”
Cunst-Link, Brussels, BE
2016
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Mural painting Assistant:
Mike Egan
Chicago, USA
2014
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Studio Assistant:
Carlos Rolón
Chicago, USA