In her first solo exhibition in Chicago, visual artist Yesenia Bello presents new works that respond to the gradual loss of two languages — Spanish and English — and the inability to identify with either of them over time. My mouth is a motherlode includes a series of small ceramics, drawings, and a hanging installation that enact the visual manifestation of the artist’s personal experiences of dealing with lingual entropy and reconciliation.

The bilingual reality exists amid being entrenched in one language and freely flowing in between them both. This reality, however, is not monolithic. Each individual brings forward specificities of their multitude of cultures. And, a shared heritage means passing a certain understanding between peers, to bridge those gaps where language can fail. More than a connection, it can operate as a megaphone to amplify another way to navigate the world.

Yesenia Bello: My mouth is a motherlode will open to the public on Saturday, February 9, 2019 from 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The exhibition will be on view through March 17, 2019 at Tiger Strikes Asteroid (2233 S Throop Chicago, IL). Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., or by appointment: chicago@tigerstrikesasteroid.com.

Yesenia Bello (b. 1994 Norristown, Pennsylvania) makes installations, drawings, and sculptures in Chicago. Her work has been presented locally at venues including The Overlook Place, DfbrL8r Gallery, Clutch Gallery. She has shown works at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and Lillstreet Art Center as part of Collective Cleaners. Recently, she completed a HATCH Projects 2016-2017 residency at Chicago Artists Coalition. Yesenia spends her days fundraising for the thoughtful youth and adult artists of  Albany Park Theater Project. Between 2011-2016 she was co-founder and organizer of Walla Fest, a volunteer run music and arts festival that worked to create community for emerging artists around the Philadelphia area. In 2018 she completed the ACRE Residency and Ox-bow Residency.  Current shows include Living Architecture at 6018North, open through March 2019,  as part of Art Design Chicago and co-curated by Tricia Van Eck and Teresa Silva. A cluster of her drawings can be found in Goldfinch Gallery’s Flatfiles. She looks forward to an upcoming collaborative show at Comfort Station in March of 2019. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a focus in Fiber and Material Studies. yeseniabello.com

Image credit: Yesenia Bello, Tracing a speaking trumpet (one of eight), 2018, ceramic.

About Tiger Strikes Asteroid
Tiger Strikes Asteroid is a network of artist-run spaces with locations in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Each space is independently operated and focuses on presenting a varied program of emerging and mid-career artists. TSA’s goal is to collectively bring people together, expand connections and build community through artist-initiated exhibitions, projects, and curatorial opportunities. They seek to further empower the artist’s role beyond that of studio practitioner to include the roles of curator, critic, and community developer; and to act as an alternate model to the conventions of the current commercial art market. TSA’s exhibitions and projects have been featured in numerous print and online publications including The New York Times, The Chicago Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Hyperallergic, Art F City, The Huffington Post, L Magazine, Whitehot Magazine, Two Coats of Paint, Artinfo, Artnet News, Beautiful Decay, and the artblog. For more information visit www.tigerstrikesasteroid.com.

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Tags: Chicago Lower West Side, Mana Contemporary, My mouth is a motherlode, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, TSA, Yesenia Bello