Herman Aguirre

Lives and works in Chicago, IL, USA

Artist statement

As a first generation born Latin artist, I feel I offer valuable insight and perspective of the Mexican-American experience. I am part of a generation who is in search of their identity, wrestles with their dual-nationality, and struggles with underrepresentation. I live and work in the neighborhood known as the “Back of the Yards”, a developing community, located in the southside of Chicago, home to a large working class and immigrant population. I pull from my heritage, culture, and its traditions, to create meaning and express my deepest concerns. Currently, my work explores subjects that are deep-rooted in the war on drugs and inner-city violence. Through a rigorous process, I physically push the boundaries of paint, wresting with the image, in order to express the visceral, visual, and psychological effects these issues have on me, my family, and our surroundings. I use experimental methods and traditional techniques to create labor intensive pieces that reference areas where I have experienced violence, are affected by violence, and have remnants of it. I bridge the gap between painting and sculpture, incorporating aspects of architecture, color, image, texture, and symbolism. Through the exploration of abstract and representational ideas I try to find an adequate language that captures the immediacy of these issues, which continue to insert themselves in my community and have an irreversible effect on the youth. With this in mind, painting has become a spiritual...

Artwork