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One of the most prominent phenomena in contemporary Latin American narrative is immigration to the United States. We imagine an utopia, believing that once we cross the border, we will find that elusive "American dream".
We have come to recognize that the realities and problems present in the territory we inhabit affect the development of our society and directly impact our personal growth as well. Amid chaos, violence, and lack of opportunities, we strive to survive. We learn to worship the culture of hard work, to believe that through effort we will earn a peaceful place we can call home.

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To stay here or to go there?

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Growing up in the Coahuila desert has made me question what I truly want to do with my life. A place that has no water, has no opportunities. I’ve preserved an optimistic spirit just to remain in the dusty city where I was born. I’ve thought about leaving, about pursuing other opportunities of North American life.

Is my dream another city?

is going to the city of my dreams, really a dream?

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I’ve been a dreamer since I first learned to create, tracing imaginary paths and painting colorful houses on paper.

I discovered new streets and explored big cities. I saw myself reflected in the windows of buildings and in puddles of dark waters.

I had my first crisis as an adult when I was 20 years old. Thinking if I belong here, about finding a place to call mine. I began to look for this new places, analyzing and comparing the opportunities in Mexico with the countless ones in the United States.

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“As in Mexico, many countries in Latin America have only two or three higher education institutions for the arts, concentrated either in the capital or in a few large cities. For many, the dilemma is to ‘escape or stay.’ Unless one has a comfortable economic situation, migrating to study will always be very difficult—especially because, unlike the European or North American university systems, our art schools and universities are not designed for people to work while studying.”

If I compare the development of art in Mexico with that of the United States, there is much left to be desired. In the early 20th century, art in the U.S. was seen as a mere imitation of what was being produced in Europe. What truly elevated the United States to a position of artistic power was perhaps the Armory Show, which showcased both American and European artists. By the middle of the century, the European art market had been disrupted by internal conflicts, falling into decline and ceasing to be a determining force in Western aesthetic discourse. It was then that the American gallery system began to rise—creating a structure where artists, critics, the press, and collectors could shape the market and generate contemporary art criticism that defined artists’ careers.

In Mexico, since the Revolution, the artist has existed as an active citizen, citizen first, artist second. The government sought to integrate culture into education; however, due to the demands of artists themselves, the State was tasked with supporting and promoting art for the benefit of society as a whole. This led to the founding of the INBA (National Institute of Fine Arts) and, together with private initiatives, the establishment of the first contemporary art museums and galleries in Mexico City. In theory, these museums continue to safeguard the work of those community-oriented artists accredited by history.

Political chaos and stagnation of progress have followed. Now, the budget for art and culture is driven by interest. Many of today’s galleries are ephemeral, unable to sustain themselves. The most popular ones survive thanks to international market circulation, often thriving due to their aesthetic preferences that follow European or American trends. The teaching of visual arts in Mexico is passive, the emerging artist begins their search for prestige by approaching major institutions, fishing for state grants, and guarding their network of trusted collectors and gallerists like treasure. Following the method of “call, select, and reward,” the Mexican artist navigates a path of trial and error to gain recognition as a professional.

The Mexican artist dreams of being able to live from their art—seeking a place of belonging, where their work is not such a turbulent path.

This last idea led me to conceive the work The American Dream of the Mexican Artist, a manifesto, a demand: that every artist have the opportunity to work and create new dialogues with their community. The concept of the “American Dream” is understood as “the dreamed life” or “the good life,” inspired by Hollywood films and independent cinema that project this orderly North American way of life.

The first work was a public space intervention, carried out on January 22, 2024, in New York City, where a phrase was stenciled and spray-painted on the sidewalk in front of the Museum of Modern Art. As the second part of this action, a collage was created using brochures and paper bags from other emblematic museums in the city, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim.