Superheroes

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This year, our image is formed by a series of photographs titled Superheroes , by artist Dulce Pinzón. In them we can see a group of migrants involved in tasks such as child care, package delivery, laundry cleaning, etc; but at the same time, dressed up as Superheroes. It’s a simple yet very powerful idea: the migrant workers who carry out lowly types of labour are really the true superheroes. They usually work in precarious conditions, and they not only give support to our societies, but also help their families in their native countries sending them money. We think that act of subverting and taking over mainstream imagery embodied by Superheroes is very stimulating to illustrate Remapping Europe. Furthermore, it connects with the work developed at the workshop held between January and March last year, where four superheroes that would defend the migrants’ social rights were created based on personal experiences told by the attendees. The only literary license we’ve allowed ourselves, with the author’s permission, is to slightly modify the titles of the images in order to adapt the idea to Europe, as the original context for the series of images took place in New York, USA.

The texts from the original series and from each of it photographs can be found below.

After September 11, the notion of the hero began to rear its head in the public consciousness more and more frequently. The notion served a necessity in a time of national and global crisis to acknowledge those who showed extraordinary courage or determination in the face of danger, sometimes even sacrificing their lives in an attempt to save others. However, in the whirlwind of journalism surrounding these deservedly front-page disasters and emergencies, it is easy to take for granted the heroes who sacrifice immeasurable life and labor in their day to day lives for the good of others, but do so in a somewhat less spectacular setting.

The Mexican immigrant worker in New York is a perfect example of the hero who has gone unnoticed. It is common for a Mexican worker in New York to work extraordinary hours in extreme conditions for very low wages which are saved at great cost and sacrifice and sent to families and communities in Mexico who rely on them to survive.

The Mexican economy has quietly become dependent on the money sent from workers in the US. Conversely, the US economy has quietly become dependent on the labor of Mexican immigrants. Along with the depth of their sacrifice, it is the quietness of this dependence which makes Mexican immigrant workers a subject of interest.

The principal objective of this series is to pay homage to these brave and determined men and women that somehow manage, without the help of any supernatural power, to withstand extreme conditions of labor in order to help their families and communities survive and prosper.

This project consists of 20 color photographs of Mexican and Latino immigrants dressed in the costumes of popular American and Mexican superheroes. Each photo pictures the worker/superhero in their work environment, and is accompanied by a short text including the worker’s name, their hometown, the number of years they have been working in New York, and the amount of money they send to their families each week.

Catwoman . Minerva Valencia from Puebla works as a nanny in New York she sends 400 dollars a week.

Spiderman. Bernabé Méndez from the State of Guerrero works as a professional window cleaner in New York he sends 500 dollars a month.

Wonder Woman . Maria Luisa Romero from the State of Puebla works in a Laundromat in Brooklyn New York she sends 150 dollars a week.

Superman . Noe Reyes from the State of Puebla works as a delivery boy in Brooklyn New York he sends 500 dollars a week.

The Thing . Luis Hernández from the State of Veracruz works as in demolition in New York he sends 200 dollars a week.

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