Alberto Lule: Under Investigation

Alberto Lule’s solo exhibition, “Under Investigation” is currently on view at Los Angeles City College VAMA Gallery from March 10th - April 15th, 2022. Lule creates mixed-media installations and readymade objects to critique the prison complex and mass incarceration in the United States, specifically in California. In the show, he ties together political issues including immigration, homelessness, drug addiction, and mental health with the prison industrial complex using his own experience. Lule views the prison system as one of many institutions that persist to trap and exploit people; as he describes incarceration as a new form of slavery. Alberto Lule is involved in political activism, striving to support and advocate for students who have undergone or are going through incarceration, and he believes that “by observing and analyzing through an artistic lens, new strategies of dealing with these very harmful and impactful issues can be developed”

Alberto Lule, Am I Truly Free? Mixed Media

Lule’s impactful mixed-media piece, “Am I Truly Free,” shook me to my core. I deeply empathized with his visual depiction of the slow loss of identity, reducing his entire being to a set of barcodes, QR codes, and binary codes. The stereotypical self-labeling struck a chord with my being, and led me to contemplate his beliefs on how others perceive him, which questions his freedom to act out his true identity. 

Alberto Lule’s solo show questions multiple facets of institutions at large while examining notions of labor and identity. The show is profound in conceptual ideation. I urge people to go check it out and marvel at his incredible artistic vision and political connections.