Juan William Chávez

Untitled (Life out of balance), c. 2016

Archival Digital Print

24 x 18 in (60.96 x 45.72 cm)

Edition. 5 of 5

Sold

Juan William Chavez’s 2016 Artpace project, “They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds,” was a component of his project, the Pruitt-Igoe Bee Sanctuary. The Pruitt-Igoe Bee Sanctuary developed around the legendary housing projects in St. Louis that were built in the 1950’s and imploded in the 70’s, leaving a massive 33-acre vacant lot that over time has slowly transformed into an urban forest. The urban forest serves as inspiration to develop a proposal for the site that uses creative strategies to activate vacancies through beekeeping and urban agriculture.

The print, “Untitled (Life out of balance),” includes an image of a cassette tape of Philip Glass’s soundtrack for the documentary film Koyaanisqatsi that includes the piece “Pruitt-Igoe.” In the film Time-lapse photography of shadows of clouds are seen moving across the skyscrapers, followed by shots of various housing projects in disrepair, including footage of the decay and demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis.

About the artist

Juan William Chávez

Juan William Chávez is an artist and cultural activist who creates and shares space in the built and natural environments to address community-identified issues. At the heart of Chavez’s practice is his studio research, which includes drawings, films, photographs, craft, labor, architectural interventions, and unconventional forms of beekeeping and agriculture. Chávez utilizes art as a way of researching, developing, and implementing projects of creative placemaking and social engagement. His exhibitions feature his studio research in the form of multimedia installations. Chavez has exhibited his work at venues such as Artpace, Van Abbemuseum, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Tube Factory Artspace, 21c Museum Hotel, Laumeier Sculpture Park and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. His interdisciplinary approach to art has gained the attention and support of prestigious institutions like the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Creative Capital, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, ArtPlace America, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Art Matters Foundation. Chávez holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago