BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
Our son, the artist?
That was Juan Hinojosa’s parents’
reaction when they first found out that
he was a budding artist.
Looking back, the self-described
Latinx, who was born and raised in
Woodside, recalled that it took his parents
some time to “understand what
the hell I was doing.”
“As hardworking Peruvian immigrants
who arrived in New York to
start a new life, the concept of their
only son becoming an ‘artist’ is not
what they expected or wanted. I think
on a lot of levels it made no sense to
them,” Hinojosa said.“But here we are
today, and they have, over time, become
supportive. Now they attend my
opens and have a lot of questions. Time
and patience are great that way.”
Hinojosa says he has seen the city
grow and change quite a bit over the
years.
“Growing up, I felt I had a lot in
common with Peter Parker. He was a
kid from Queens, too. Funny enough,
they filmed ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
just down the street from my place
in Sunnyside.”
From his studio in Long Island
City, he creates eye-catching collages
on paper and cool sculptures, like
his whimsical cat piece. His work is
based on the concept of using found
objects as the only source of material
and inspiration, and he says he really
enjoys it when his work speaks
for itself.
“I like to think the city is filled with
delicious ready-made objects just ready
for the taking,” he added. “Everything
you see and can identify in my work is
something I found, love, and saved from
ending up in the trash. As a hoarder,
my studio is full of that.”
His advice: “Never underestimate
the objects around your New York
apartment or at your 9 to 5. There’s
always something you can turn into
something else.”
When Hinojosa was involved with
Materials for the Arts in LIC, as an
artist-in-residence (fall 2015 to winter
2016), he recalled using all the materials
he was able to collect there to put
together a new body of work, which he
said “best displayed all the possible alternatives
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TIMESLEDGER | 36 QNS.COM | FEB. 21-27, 2020
someone could use discarded,
ready-made objects.”
He spent his time in the warehouse
“just head over heels in love with everything
I saw and the people I met.
And the staff not only made me feel welcomed,
but they inspired a new body
of work I never would have made,” he
noted.
“The hard work that Harriet Taub
has done over the years is nothing
more than sheer brilliance, and the
curatorial guidance of John Cloud Kaiser
and Omar Olivera, was extremely
important and influential, he added.
His recent exhibit at Local Project
Art Space in LIC — where creatives
can express themselves freely in a “safe
space” — was sponsored by Queens
Council on the Arts, who awarded the
artist a New Work Grant in 2019.
“A whole new body of work was
made just for Local Project and I
couldn’t have done it without my
amazing people at QCA,” he said. “For
the grant, I proposed a show titled
‘Juan Hinojosa: A Bad Hombre.’ It was
a look at the art world through the
lens of someone who has been deemed
dangerous by this current administration.”
Materials used for that exhibit include:
multi-color wall decals, several
broken mannequin hands, stickers
and jewelry, broken frames, window
blinds, spray paint, as well as yarn,
chess pieces and a vintage photo.
Hinojosa’s talent hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Council Member Jimmy Van
Bramer honored him, along with three
other awardees, for their outstanding
achievements and contributions to the
borough of Queens. The special ceremony
with community brunch was
held in LIC last June.
The busy artist, who said he takes
some inspiration from Henri Matisse,
Robert Rauschenburg, and Sigma Polka,
is currently working with Ground
Floor Gallery in Park Slope on a series
of new prints, which they’re producing.
And his solo exhibition is now on
view at Union College in Schenectady,
NY until fall. “It’s just a hop, skip, and
jump from Queens,” he quips, noting,
“The lovely curator allowed me to create
a site-specific installation along
with about 12 new collages. A true gift
to a kid from Queens!”
This summer, he’ll take part in
a large group show at Local Project,
which he said he’s really looking forward
to.
“Needless to say, an artist’s life is
never dull… and constantly exhausting,”
he said.
Queens activist speaks through his art
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