Gómez-Peña, Guillermo (1955–)

A prolific writer, performance artist, critical pedagogue, and journalist, Guillermo Gómez-Peña is known internationally for creating performances, video art, web performances, and installations that interrogate the notion of identity in an age of globalization and hybridity. Gómez-Peña was born in Mexico City, and, when not traveling to teach or to perform, lives in the United States where he self-identifies as a Mexican/Chicano. His work characteristically demystifies the exotification and commodification of native identity, legacies of Orientalism that impact cultural discourse about human rights, nationality, and immigration.

His work is variously described as “ethno-techno art” and “Chicano cyberpunk.” A stated goal that he pursues is the articulation of multicentric identity that transcends ideologies of nationality and race. His early work tackles the problematic notion of “authenticity,” which often fuels the desire to commodify a cultural other. For instance, in Undiscovered Amerindians from [Page 628]1992, Gómez-Peña placed himself in a 10- by 12-foot cage, dressed in an Aztec-like breast plate, and wore a leopard skin wrestling face mask. Along with fellow performance artist Coco Fusco, the performance was described as previously unknown “specimens” representative of the Guatinaui people. The performance resembled the dioramas popular in the 19th century depicting Native Americans in museums and exhibits for westerns, and was first performed at the Edge ′92 Biennial in Madrid, Spain, organized in commemoration of the quincentennial of Columbus's voyage to the New World. Border Brujo from 1988 presents Gómez-Peña dressed as a Mexican Revolutionary with bananas hanging around his neck rather than bandoliers, delivering a scathing critique of colonial hypocrisies. The centrality of hybrid identity in his performances intentionally positions the audience as “outsiders” or “minorities.”

Much of his contemporary work concerns the role of technology in identity discourse, and he has created many multimedia projects and performance installations that explore the cultural side effects of globalization, the digital divide, corporate multiculturalism, and xenophobia. For instance, in Mapa Corpo, Gómez-Peña performs a mass while an acupuncturist places needles adorned with flags of the occupation forces in Iraq in the body of a member of his performance company. In El Mexterminator vs. the Global Predator, Gómez-Peña performs a solo narrative that explores the dark side of globalization and intercultural sexuality. He and his performance company, La Pocha Nostra, tour and present performances and workshops around the world. On the company website, visitors can find, among many other things, photo and video performances that playfully mock essentializing cultural stereotypes. In 1991, Gómez-Peña became the first Mexicano/Chicano artist to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, and he received a National Book Award for his 1997 The New World (B)order. Gómez-Peña was a founding member of the binational arts collective, Border Arts Workshop/Taller de Arte Fronterizo. In 1993 he established La Pocha Nostra, an organization that is dedicated to the artistic and conceptual collaborations with performance artists interested in hybridity and postcolonial critique. He is the author of The Warrior for Gingostokia, The Temple of Confessions, and Ethno-Techno: Writings on Performance, Activism, and Pedagogy.