Studio Lenca: The Invisibles @ Sierra Metro

The Invisibles by Studio Lenca, the working name of artist Jose Campos, is on show at Sierra Metro and consists of five works from the ongoing series Los Historiantes. Entering Sierra Metro, there are two digitally printed photographs on display in the café area, Immigrante (2022) and El Historiante Blanco (2020). Sitting at the narrow bar with a cup of coffee beside these images allows for an opportunity to reflect. Immigrante is a portrait of Campos. He is pictured sitting at an angle turned from the camera, topless with an orange football placed on his head that is held in place by a strip of peach-coloured lace. Facing away from the camera with his head slightly tilted upwards, Campos’ eyes are closed and there is a calm expression on his face.

El Historiante Blanco depicts Campos covered in white lace, his head adorned with pink flowers, a turquoise blue necklace sitting heavy on his chest. In contrast to Immigrante, here Campos gazes directly at the viewer, holding a glinting blade in his hand. His expression is again calm, however engaging it is for the viewer. These images explore the folkloric dancers of El Salvador, where Campos imagines himself and others in the traditional dress of a Historiante. Rooted in the hybridisation of colonial Spanish tradition with Pre-Columbian tradition, the images reflect a history of enforced cultural erasure through costume.

In a small sunlight-filled gallery space, there are three works on display. Two acrylic oil paintings and tablecloth collages, Hugo (2022) and Melon Head (2022), and a tablecloth that has been scrubbed with domestic cleaning products, Esta Fregado (2021). Hugo and Melon Head are both portraits that show male Salvadoran figures in traditional dress. Depicted in bright playful colours with a shimmering texture from the tablecloth, they appear to toy with the idea of traditional masculinity through a lens that explores El Salvador’s colonial past. Understanding the complex historical erasure of El Salvador’s culture through Spanish and U.S. colonialism, these portraits offer an alternative potential of masculinity, one that embraces queerness and tradition.

Esta Fregado is a tablecloth that depicts a variety of fruit that has been scrubbed with cleaning products. A pineapple, a bunch of bananas, and a slice of watermelon are apparent amidst the sweeping, obscuring scrubs of the cleaning products. Campos’ mother is a cleaner, and this work reflects on the exhaustive labour she endured and how it affected her body. Campos and his mother travelled from El Salvador to the U.S. illegally to escape the awful civil violence of the late 1980s. Because working as a cleaner did not require any documentation, Campos’ mother took on this labour to support herself and her son. Understanding this information, the risk, sacrifice and love entangled in Campos’ history, Esta Fregado is incredibly moving in the way that it celebrates all that his mother did for him. 

Defined by his working name – Studio referring to a space of experimentation and Lenca referring to his ancestors from El Salvador – Campos’ exhibition at Sierra Metro is a striking and moving contemplation on the artist’s identity, culture and history as a queer Latin American artist in the U.K.