Jorge Gonzalez

Artist Statement: My practice as an artist has enabled the creation of a practical platform called Escuela de Oficios, that weaves an ongoing creation of a collective learning space. Participants engage in mapping, documenting, and employing artisanal techniques. Thus, conforming to a mobile program that progresses through conversations, workshops, and exhibitions. Through these activities, distribution of knowledge–ranging from oral history, ancestral techniques, and collective practices–is articulated and shared with and among the participants. From this approach, connections on self-management education models are being explored, emphasizing on convivial and communal forms of production.

Gonzalez received his BFA from the Puerto Rico School of Visual Arts in 2006. Residencies include Beta-Local, San Juan in (2012) and the Davidoff Residency Program in Bogota (2017). He has exhibited internationally including at el Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (2014), Die Ecke (2015) in Chile, Kunsthalle Osnabruek, Germany (2015), and SITELines (2016). Most recently González participated in a pedagogical program for documenta 14, Kassel, Germany, Under the Mango Tree: Sites of Learning, organized by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen). In 2018, González will be included in Pacha, Llacta, Wasichay, Building the Indigenous Present at The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Micro-residency & VLC Forum Day Five:

Following a recent trip to Mexico to connect with his paternal roots and learn traditional tallow candle-making techniques, Jorge González sets up a candle-making workshop site for 10 days at Studio 406. The candles are later to be used as an altar on the fence of The Clemente, enacting Escuela’s continuous, embodied work of community regeneration. In collaboration with artist Monica Rodriguez (La Germinal) and others, González leads a reading and listening session that proclaims an Indigenous, queer, and feminist future with a focus on the writings of Puerto Rican anarchist and feminist writer Luisa Capetillo.

The collective learning, care, and nurturing of community and resources at the core of Escuela’s practice is often grounded by shared meals. For this gathering, sancocho and cassava bread will be served.

Inside The Clemente, Puerto Rican films screen at 5 pm, while the gathering around the altar continues with candle distribution and an open mic session through 8 pm.

The Vera List Center Forum 2021 is presented as part of the center’s 2020–2022 focus theme, As for Protocols. Partner organizations are The Clemente, UnionDocs, and Weeksville Heritage Center. 

Follow on Instagram: @jigs_pr

VLC Forum 2021 Day Five: Escuela de Oficios” is part of the Vera List Center Forum 2021: As for Protocols. It is presented by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, The New School, in partnership with The Clemente, October 15, 2021.

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Esperanza Spalding