Studio Lenca

Bio: Jose Campos (aka Studio Lenca) B. 1986 La Paz, El Salvador and based at TKE Studios, Margate, UK is an artist that doesn’t belong anywhere apart from the world he creates.

Going by the name Studio Lenca. ‘Studio’ refers to a space for experimentation, a laboratory for praxis; ‘Lenca’ links the artist to the Mesoamerican indigenous people of eastern El Salvador.

The artist was forcibly displaced as a consequence of El Salvador’s violent civil war, one of the first wave of child migrants moving to the USA. Travelling illegally with his mother, the family lived as ‘illegal aliens’, cleaning houses with no fixed address.

Lenca’s allusions to materiality and the depiction of regal figures seek to decentralize the collective idea of Salvadorian identity. Proud, courageous and visible. All the things that a young Studio Lenca couldn’t be. The subjects stare out from the canvas, holding our gaze. Sharply dressed in colorful outfits and hats, confidently taking up space. The situation is often ambiguous, are they dancing to traditional Cumbias Salvadoreñas or running from homeland security? The work playfully references a combination of biographical anecdotes, personal reflections, and folkloric iconography. Visual cues are recalibrated to reclaim autonomy over a fragmented history.

Studio Lenca creates through the lens of his own sense of belonging and joy to defy the narrative surrounding his community. His work offers an altogether different sensibility from the forced assimilation and secrecy caused by the US immigration system.

Creating by his own rules. The displaced narrative is reconfigured, and the conversation is extended to enable investigation and redemption. Studio Lenca creates a world where people are empowered to take up space and tell their own stories.

Education:

2019: MFA Arts & Learning: Goldsmith University, London, UK 2015: Art & Design PGCE: Goldsmiths University, London, UK 2013: MA Contemporary Dance: Contemporary Dance School, London, UK

Solo Exhibitions:

2024: Rutas, KATES-FERRI PROJECTS, NY

2023: Chisme, Parrish Art Museum, Hamptons, NY El Camino, Soho Revue, London Alquimia, Finca Cortesin, Malaga EL Jardin, Tang Contemporary, Bangkok Cutting Through, Edji, Brussels Listo, Halsey Mckay, NY Joyeria, COAMA, Madrid

2022: Ni de aqui, ni de alla, Untitled Art Fair, Miami A Losing Game, Soho Revue, London I’m working on leaving, Tang Contemporary, Seoul The Dreamers, Foundry, Dubai The Invisibles, Sierra Metro, Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2022: Like there is hope and I can dream of another world, Hospital Rooms X Hauser & Wirth, Hauser & Wirth, London
Hometown Sessions 1, Edji Gallery, Paris
FreshPaint London, Noho Showroom, London
Orsini Palace, Studio 11, Rome
Adult by Nature, Quench Gallery, Margate
A Shadow Across A Line, Hatch Art Project, Singapore
Como la flor , Y.E.S Contemporary, Museum of Art, El Salvador 
Polychromy, Artual Gallery, Beirut 
Summer exhibition, Gallery Red, Palma
Pavilions , M.A.H Gallery, London
POW festival , Turner Contemporary, Margate
URVANITY, Arniches Gallery, Prize Winner (Fundacion MER), Madrid
Identity , Artistellar, London

2021: Arniches 26 Gallery , Madrid 
Turner Open , Turner Contemporary, Margate
MAH , London Design Festival , London 
Convergent acts , Bubble and Squeak, Brussels 
Ni de aqui ni de alla Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles
The Pattern of patience at Marc Straus Gallery, New York
Los Historiantes, Nominated for Prix Pictet

2020: SWAB BARCELONA , Solo Exhibition , La Unica Galeria, El Salvador
Los Historiantes , Winner of the Open Solo exhibition Photofringe, Brighton 
Unknown Learning , Northdown Studios, Margate 
Peckham Pride Mural Culture Seeds, London 
Queer’ing the art curriculum lecture University of Arts London 

2019: Mile of String , Horniman Museum, London
Los Historiantes , ‘La Horchata’ Publication, Washington DC 
Los Historiantes , VIA Arts Prize Embassy of El Salvador, London 
Peoples Voices for Tony Cokes Goldsmiths Centre for  Contemporary Art, London  
Los Historiantes, Margate NOW Festival, Margate
Doing and Undoing St James Gallery, Goldsmiths University, London 

2018:
Critical Pedagogy in Contested Spaces, Tate Modern, London 
The Artist Teacher, 288 New Cross Rd, London 

2017:
Rural Painting School, La Paz, El Salvador 

2016:
Artist in Residence Under the Same Sun, South London  Gallery, London  

2015:
Kill Kill Kill Parasol Unit Gallery, London 

2014:
Navigating dance with my fat body, 288 New Cross, London
Passport Please, 310 Gallery, London

Social: @studiolenca