Review of Sisyphus Strut at Artpace

Image courtesy of Elroy Kay.

San Antonians strongly appreciate counter-culture arts that actively promote stories that history has attempted to erase. Local artist Juan Ramos incorporates comic books and punk music as part of  his solo exhibition at Artpace, Sisyphus Strut, to celebrate  the people and culture of San Antonio’s southside. Ramos compares the resilience of the southside to the ancient Greek figure Sisyphus - who in death rolled a boulder up a hill everyday. Instead of emphasizing the work as laborious, Ramos suggests “strutting,” emphasizing how the repetitive, and what seems insignificant, daily acts are a source of pride. 

Installation view of Juan Ramos’s Southside Loteria at Artpace. Image courtesy of Elroy Kay.

Southside Loteria projects a looped video directly onto the wall as it features a slideshow of drawings depicting Ramos’ friends and acquaintances superimposed on images of local bars, parking lots, or homes. Over the video is an audio recording interviewing each person sharing their thoughts: from Tejano music, foot massages, to government corruption. The words and visuals connect viewers with southside San Antonio culture, easing the audience with its relaxed atmosphere. I was struck by an interview of a man standing in a neighborhood wearing a military uniform and listening to his voice share how he discovered Tejano music upon joining the army. 

Installation view of Juan Ramos’s San Anto Sentinels Preview at Artpace. Image courtesy of Elroy Kay.

At the end of the gallery is San Anto Sentinels Preview - a series of 51 works, mostly watercolors or digital prints. Among these works are a collection of writings narrating the story about a fictional group of superheroes called “C.H.A.N.C.L.A.” The acronym stands for Covert Homeland Anti-Attack Neutralizing Coordinated Logistical Agents, though jokingly referencing the “chancla,” or sandal, that is stereotypically used as corporal punishment by Mexican-American mothers. In Ramos’ world, these agents protect the various superheroes that live in San Antonio using their individual powers. 

Various media describe or  explain the world the heroes protect. Some objects consider the gadgets that these super heroes use. For example, Tokaya’s Omni-Visor is a pair of high-tech glasses that allow the wearer to view electromagnetic impulses, turning the mundane and stigmatized necessity of glasses into a coveted super-gadget. Items such as these empower Southside people from within rather than altering them and their environment  to fit the stereotypical superhero. Dispersed between heroes and gadgets is poetry as well as depictions of what seems to be the common enemies: The Energoid and San James, representing the capitalist structure of local electricity system and colonization efforts/government overreach respectively. While the viewer stands near this section, pop-punk music by local artists such as Sun-Day, Glorium, and Snowbyrd play through a speaker, giving local viewers a nostalgic ambiance, reminiscent of typically adolescent activities such as reading comic books or drawing superheroes while listening to playful or upbeat music.

The exhibit creates a casual atmosphere,encouraging viewers to appreciate the diversity and perseverance of San Antonio as it is challenged by new faces of colonization/gentrification, such as Project Marvel. Ramos imbues power into ordinary people by making them into heroes against capitalist structures like the electricity system or symbols of government overreach who are presented as supervillains. The people are not defined as champions because of the dichotomy of hero/villian, but because of the bonds built in the southside community.

Sisyphus Strut will be open in the Hudson Showroom until January 18, 2026. Check the Artpace website for operating hours.