Private Project

EEUU (America)

  • Vicente Ortiz Cortez
    Director
  • Neimyiah Whittley
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Other
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 3, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Mexico
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 215 | 610 Contemporary
    Media, PA
    United States
    November 6, 2019
    North American Premiere
    Selected by juror Jodi Throckmorton, Curator of Contemporary Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) Museum
  • 14th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, William Way LGBT Community Center
    Philadelphia, PA
    United States
    November 8, 2019
    Juror Award Recipient, juried by James Claiborne, independent curator and Public Programming Manager, African American Museum, Philadelphia
  • In 24-Hours: Desirable Feelings, The Wall Space Gallery
    Scotland
    United Kingdom
    April 17, 2020
    Curated by Ayshia Taskin and [SHIFT:ibpcpa]
Director Biography - Vicente Ortiz Cortez

Vicente Ortiz Cortez is a queer Mexican artist based in Philadelphia, USA. His work, informed by his catholic upbringing in the macho culture of rural Mexico, addresses themes of sexuality, identity, and anthropocenic anxieties.

He has exhibited at the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA) Museum in Gyeonggi, South Korea, Extra Art Gallery in Cairo, Egypt, and at the Palazzo dei Cartelloni in Florence, Italy, among others, with a 2020 solo exhibition at The Beach Museum in Alagoas, Brazil. His awards include the 2019 Juried Art Exhibition Award from the William Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia, and the 2019 Highly Commended Award from Red Line Art Works in Bath, United Kingdom. He has been juried into exhibitions by The Nation’s art critic, Barry Schwabsky, and by the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) Museum, Jodi Throckmorton, among others.

Ortiz Cortez received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The Pennsylvania State University, and also attended Studio Arts College International (SACI) in Florence, Italy.

Director Headshot Photo by Richard Kagan

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Director Statement

I explore themes of sexuality, identity, and anthropocenic anxieties.

EEUU (America) is part of a series of work which pays homage to my Mexican heritage. My choice of materials, rice and straws, comes from the euphemistic expression arroz con popote (to eat rice pudding with a straw/phallus). It's Mexican slang used to describe that someone is homosexual, with or without any intention to offend. "He likes el arroz con popote."

America further explores issues of injustice in the USA, where I've lived for over a decade. This piece brings together my heritage with the culture I'm now surrounded by. The original performer, Neimyiah Whittley (b. Milwaukee, WI), also a queer person of color, was invited to use this performance opportunity as an outlet to reflect on injustices they themselves have faced in an increasingly toxic sociopolitical climate.