New work by artist Bibiana Suárez at National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture

Exhibition view / Photography by Tom VanEynde / Photo Bibiana Suarez Facebook

A new exhibition by Puerto Rican artist Bibiana Suárez is on display at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Colorful paintings with playful combinations of text and image from the new series she has titled De:Lata, the title is a word play between the verb delatar, to tell, and the noun lata, can, the phrases dar lata, to be a bore, and de una lata, from a can. This is because what has inspired Suárez’s new body of work is her analysis of food labels and their misleading representation of contemporary Latinas. This series extends Suárez’s interest in the marketing of Latino culture.

Exhibition view / Photography by Tom VanEynde / Photo Bibiana Suarez Facebook

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Bibiana Suárez has resided in Chicago since 1980. She has a BFA and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently a Professor in The Art School at DePaul University. Suárez’s art is a laboratory where her personal experiences get tested against the socio- political conditions in which people of color live, emphasizing the convergence between race, politics, and culture as applied to Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in the U.S. Her solo exhibitions include Memoria(Memory), Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Domino/Dominó, Museo del Barrio, NY and Illinois Arts Gallery. Among her most recent group exhibitions are Repatriación/Repatriation at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, and Identity Play at Space Gallery, Pittsburg. She has received several awards including three Illinois Arts Council Individual Visual Artist Fellowships, a NEA Regional Fellowship and was a fellow at the RACE Center, University of Chicago, the Ragdale Foundation, and the Center for Latino Research, DePaul University.

Exhibition view / Photography by Tom VanEynde / Photo Bibiana Suarez Facebook

"De:Lata" will be on display through July 30 at the museum, located at 3015 W. Division St. in Chicago. The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture is open Tuesdays through Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturdays, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.