About
Carlos Flores (b. 1992 Guadalajara, Mexico) is an emerging and uncategorized artist and curator based in Archer Heights and Little Village. He received his BFA from UIC in 2016. His work is informed by his experiences as a queer Latinx immigrant on the West Side of Chicago and brings viewers face to face with issues of environmental racism, displacement, gender, and race. He is currently focused on dismantling predatory practices by real estate investors targeting vulnerable populations in Little Village. He is also actively involved in makerspaces across the city and consulting to launch a startup that would be both a social enterprise and a critical artwork to take on displacement.
In addition to being an artist, Carlos is the Programs Manager at Chicago Art Department, a two staff community art center in Pilsen that he has co-led for the past 4 years. CAD offers residencies for twenty civically-minded artists and over 100+ free programs and exhibitions to the community annually. Leading programming and the larger organization has morphed into an extension of his studio practice. Carlos is very passionate about cultivating communities and artists to look at our city and country with a critical eye.
Separate from the arts but still in the realm of creative labor, Carlos is a life-long gardener and recently launched a small scale urban flower farm in Archer Heights called Rocio Flower Farm. The micro farm, which runs out of his home, was inaugurated in the spring of 2022 and aims to be a form of ecological protest. Rocio Flower Farms grows primarily native plants and perennials from the Great Lakes Region that are combined with “weeds” collected from the industrial corridors of the city to create unique statement pieces with an environmental message.
Education
2019 –
Visual Arts Certificate Program, University of Chicago Graham School
2016 –
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts, University of Illinois at Chicago
Residencies / Fellowships
2017 –
Ox-Bow School of Art Fall Residency, Saugatuck, MI
The Center Program; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
2016 –
Luminarts Visual Arts Fellow, Chicago, IL
LAUNCH Invitational Residency, Chicago Artists Coalition
Achievements / Awards
2021 –
Actos de Confianza, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, United States
2020 –
QTIBIPOC Artist Microgrant, FTP, Chicago, IL
Spark Grant, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
2017 –
Full Scholarship, The Center Program, Hyde Park Art Center
Fall Artists' Residency Stipend Award, Ox-Bow, Saugatuck, MI
2016 – 2017
Education Advisory Group member for the Chicago Artists Coalition
Luminarts Fellowship Award, Luminarts Foundation, Chicago IL
2016 –
UIC Faculty Award for Art, School of Art and Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago
Talent Tuition Award, School of Art and Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago
2015 –
Talent Tuition Award, School of Art and Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago
Exhibitions / Artist Talks
2021 –
TBD, Roots and Culture Contemporary Art Center, Chicago IL *Forthcoming*
2020 –
Artist Run Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago IL
Street Canvas, We’ll Figure It Out, Chicago Art Department, Chicago IL
2019 –
Made In the Fab Lab, Link, Polsky Exchange, Chicago IL
Post Practice, Chicago Art Department, Chicago IL
Solo Exhibition, Chicago Art Department, Chicago IL
2017 –
Front & Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
2016 –
Project Zero Waste, Hostel Earphoria, Chicago, IL
Villarte, 11th annual Arts Festival, Chicago, IL
Luminarts Visual Arts Competition Exhibition, Union League Club of Chicago
As Little Defined As Anything Else, University of Illinois at Chicago
2014 –
Introspection: Anatomy of the Interior, 5th Floor Gallery, University of Illinois at Chicago