Artist Statement
Sanctifying the discarded through transformation is how I verbalize my practice. I deconstruct discarded sneakers (from the trash) and transform them via hand sewing and embroidering into sculpture. They become idolized or worshiped objects often symbolizing an alternative perspective on materialism, consumerism, capitalism and sociopolitical issues.
Hand sewn and embroidered sculpture from discarded sneakers will remain the focus of my artistic practice. After twenty years of creating sneaker sculpture the response to the evolution is by adding a woven component. Through this exploration, inkle, tablet and tapestry four-selvaged weaving have become the methods of choice. Creating new works as I acquire skills and discovering unfamiliar bodies of work along the way. Not only is the evolution of the sneaker sculpture important but connecting to my New Mexican paternal lineage of weavers through this practice. The cross cultural connections of ancient weaving mirrors our present day connections with sneakers. They both exist/ed in every culture across the globe.
Bio
Born in North America in 1976 while on the thoroughbred horse race circuit with his older brother, New Mexican father and Canadian mother. Both lineages are colonial being of mixed European and Native/First Nations origin to different extents. Adopted and relocated to Metro Detroit, Gallegos spent his tweens and teens in another life style and existence. He attended Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan on a full scholarship for musical theater and costume craft. He left college his junior year when his brother and adoptive father both committed suicide. Resulting in a move to New York City in his early 20’s he worked in costume and fashion while building an art career of 17 years.
Specifically the Bronx was where he called home in New York City. The Bronx gave him the opportunity to grow within a tiny art community. His work has been published in the New York Times, Artforum.com Critic Picks and an interview with the American Federation of Arts. Sean Paul’s exhibition highlights include Aqua Art Fair Miami, AIM 33: Artist in the Marketplace at the Bronx Museum of the Arts and La Bienal at El Museo del Barrio in Harlem, NYC. His work was acquired by the Albuquerque Museum for their permanent collection and exhibition "American Jewelry of New Mexico" that ran June-October of 2018. He received 3rd Place Best of Show from the Amarillo Art Museum for their Biennial 600: Textile + Fiber that ran October-December of 2019. Gallegos identifies as a queer, disabled, fiber artist and a resident of Albuquerque, NM for over 10 years. His work was recently featured at “Hip Hop Studies Summit” at the Wignall Museum in late February and early March of 2024.
More information of his current exhibitions is available here What's Happening?
CV
Solo Exhibitions
2012 Stations of the Lost, Longwood Art Gallery Project Room, Bronx, NY
Residencies
2018 Sonoran Arts Residency, Sonoran Desert Conference Center, Ajo, AZ
2014 A.I.R. in the Desert, Tortuga Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2014 Savoy Hotel Artist Space, Trinidad, CO
2014 LMCC Building 110, Process Space Residency, Governors Island, NY
2013 A.I.R.- Artist in Residence, 4heads @ G.I.A.F., Governors Island, NY
2012 A.I.R.- Artist in Residence, 4heads @ G.I.A.F., Governors Island, NY
Selected Exhibitions
2024 Hip Hop Studies Summit, Wignall Museum, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
2023 Death and Ritual, UMA Gallery, Oakland, CA
2023 Arte de Descartes XXIII, Stables Gallery, Taos, NM
2023 Cosmic Threads, Electra Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2023 Small Works, Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI
2022 Beyond Craft, Chico Arts Center, Chico, CA
2022 Fate, Destiny and Self Determination, Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, Almonte, ON
2022 A Common Thread, Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN
2022 Wit, Humor and Satire, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
2021 Compass Roses: Albuquerque, South Broadway Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM
2021 Postcards from the Edge, Virtual Gallery, Manhattan, NY
2020 Let My Presence Be the Refusal, Visual Aids Online, Manhattan, NY
2020 Postcards From the Pandemic, Beard and Weil Gallery, Norton, MA
2020 41st Annual Contemporary Crafts, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa, AZ
2020 a nerve is not a nerve but a bundle of fibers, Wheaton College, Norton, MA
2020 Postcards from the Edge, Bortolami Gallery, Manhattan, NY
2019 AMOA Biennial 600 textile + fiber , Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, TX
2019 Fiber as Metaphor, Gallery Fritz, Santa Fe, NM
2019 Albuquirky Little Houses Benefit, Factory on 5th, Albuquerque, NM
2019 Silk Purse/Sow’s Ear, Santa Fe Community Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2019 Postcards from the Edge, Bortolami Gallery, Manhattan, NY
2018 BWYL 2018, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Galerie Richard, Manhattan, NY
2018 Currency: Debtfair, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM
2018 Dia de los Muertos Celebration, South Broadway Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM
2018 Artist in Residence Pop-Up, Art Under the Arches, Ajo, AZ
2018 American Jewelry From New Mexico, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
2018 OT Circus Auction Benefit, OT Circus Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2018 Albuquirky Little Houses Benefit, Sumner & Dene Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2017 Dara Friedman: Musical in Perfect Strangers, Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL
2017 Group Exhibition, Relic Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2017 TRANSpire, VSA N4th Art Center Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2017 6x6x2017, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
2017 Fiber Arts Fiesta, Manuel Lujan Complex, Albuquerque, NM
2017 Albuquirky Little Houses Benefit, Sumner & Dene Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2017 BWYL 2017, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Lyles & King, Manhattan, NY
2015 Rise of the S.B.X. Super Artists, LDR Studio Gallery, Bronx, NY
2015 12" x 12", Aqua Art Fair, Projects Gallery, Miami, FL
2015 Recycled Santa Fe, Sweeney Center, Santa Fe, NM
2015 Project Postcard, University Art Gallery, Las Cruces, NM
2015 You've Got Mail, Ground Floor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2015 12x12 BxArts Factory Fundraiser, GunHill Brewery, Bronx, NY
2015 ArtViaPost, Arts at the Armory Cafe, Sommerville, MA
2015 Sixth Annual People's Art Show, Factory 5G Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2014 Razors Edge, Bronx Latin American Art Biennial, Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY
2014 BXADP Bronx Artist Documentary Project, Andrew Freedman Home, Bronx NY
2014 Transformations, Tortuga Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2014 Bronx Pop Up Festival-Mass Mosaic, Andrew Freedman Home, Bronx, NY
2014 The Time Has Come, Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
2014 Faberge's Big Egg Hunt, Manhattan, NY
2014 Know Who You Are At Every Age, Bronx River Arts Center, Bronx, NY
2014 Postcards from the Edge, Luhring Augustine, Manhattan, NY
2013 Dia de los Muertos, House of Spoof-Brick House Gallery, Bronx, NY
2013 Divine Intersection, Kenneth Chapman Gallery, New Rochelle, NY
2013 Endurance of Ritual, Dixon Place, Manhattan, NY
2013 Governors Island Art Fair, Governors Island, NY
2013 Goddess Clap Back:Hip Hop Feminism in Art, CUE Art Foundation, Manhattan, NY
2013 Bronx Calling: The Second AIM Biennial, The Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY
2013 La Bienal "Here is Where We Jump", El Museo Del Barrio, Manhattan, NY
2013 Armory Arts Week-Bronx Day, Bronx NY
2013 Bronx Soles, BronxArtSpace, Bronx NY
2013 Postcards From the Edge, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., Manhattan, NY
2012 Media Loft Plus, New Rochelle, NY
2012 A.I.O.P.-Art In Odd Places Festival, 14th Street - Union Square, Manhattan, NY
2012 Core 77 Open 5 Designers x 5 Boroughs, Manhattan, NY
2012 Show #2, the Parlour:Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY
2012 REMADE, BronxArtSpace, Bronx, NY
2012 Armory Arts Week-Bronx Day, Bronx, NY
2011 Governors Island Art Fair, Governors Island, NY
2011 Hopes and Heroes, Dash Gallery, Manhattan, NY
2011 From the Bronx Pop-Up, Bronx Documentary Center, Bronx, NY
2011 Postcards From the Edge, CRG Gallery, Manhattan, NY
2010 Governors Island Art Fair, Governors Island, NY
2010 Impractical Hats, Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
2010 Postcards From the Edge, ZeiherSmith, NYC
2009 Migration, Aviary Arts Collective Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2009 Richer or Poorer, South Bronx Open Studio Tour, Bronx, NY
2008 Dara Friedman: Musical, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, Manhattan, NY
2008 Political Art Show, Verb Collective Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2008 Material Culture, Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
2007 Postcard From the Edge, James Cohen Gallery, Manhattan, NY
2006 Zito Studio Gallery:Closing Show, Zito Studio Gallery, NYC
2006 Postcards From the Edge, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., Manhattan, NY
2005 Barriolesque, Haven Arts, Bronx, NY
2004 Looking at You Looking at Me, Storage Art Space, Bronx, NY
Selected Collaborations
2013 Mnemosyne Atlas Book Launch-Freya Powell, ICI Curatorial Hub, NYC
2010 South Bronx Open Studio Tour- Fire Performance
2010 "This Fable was Intended for You", M.K. Gluth- Performer
2008 Agni Mirage Fire Troupe- Costume Design/Fire Performance
2008-07 Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz- Costume Design/Construction
2007 Shaun El C. Leonardo- Costume Design/Construction
2006-05 Pedro Jimenez- Costume Design/Construction
2006 Cilla Vee Movement Project- Costume Design/Construction
2000 Public Theatre, NYC- Stitcher/Finisher
1999 The Juilliard School, NYC- Stitcher/Finisher
Awards
2022 Best in Show 1st Place, Beyond Craft, Chico Art Center
2020 Artist Relief Grant, ArtistRelief.org
2020 Fulcrum Fund-Emergency Relief Grant, 516 Arts
2019 Best in Show 3rd place, AMOA Biennial 600 textile + fiber, Amarillo Museum of Art
2018 CERF+, Get Ready Grant
2014 Visual AIDS Artist Grant
2014 BRIO: Bronx Recognizes It's Own Artist Grant, Bronx Council on the Arts
2013 Change Inc. Grant, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
2013 Sol Shaviro Grant, Bronx Museum of the Arts
2013 Visual AIDS Artist Grant
2012 BRIO: Bronx Recognizes It's Own Artist Grant, Bronx Council on the Arts
2010 Visual AIDS Artist Grant
1996-97 Gittlien Theatre Achievement Grant, Oakland University
1994-1997 Mary Bonnell Full Theatre Scholarship-Specializing in Costume, Oakland University
Education
2021 The Dots Between Fellowship, Santa Fe, NM
2017 Inter-Mountain Weavers Conference, Shoe Lace Tablet Weaving, Durango, CO
2013 AIM-Artist in the Marketplace Program, Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY
2010 Bronx Council on the Arts, Art Handler Certification Program, Bronx, NY
1994-97 Musical Theatre, Oakland University, Rochester Hills, MI