Detrás de Nosotros Estamos Ustedes: Behind Us We Are You
Atlan Arceo-Witzl
November 1st - December 12th, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 1st, 4:-00-6:00PM
How might a public-facing commercial space be used to serve the voices of common people? A storefront that no longer sells products but instead tells stories of resistance. A place to pull up a chair and commune with neighbors. An autonomous printshop built to express dreams, ideals, and play. Each window display declares, “people over profit!” The collective of characters known as the Chican@ Mythmakers live in a hybrid world of the ancient-now where they speak of truth, dignity, and self-determination. Détras de Nosotros Estamos Ustedes reflects on the power of culture. The artist draws inspiration from liberatory political graphics, cultural ephemera of the Midwest, and the rich mythistory of marginalized people. In the face of societal tumult and rising American fascism, there are many roles to play in dismantling hierarchical systems of domination. ¡Manos a la obra!
About the Artist:
Atlan Arceo-Witzl is a mixed-race Chicanx visual artist, creator, and educator based in Chicago, IL. He received his Bachelor's degree in Studio Art from Skidmore College with concentrations in printmaking, drawing, and sculpture. In addition to his daily work as a shop tech and educator at Columbia College Chicago, he maintains his own art and freelance graphic design practices collaborating with various organizations. He is an active member of the Chicago Printers Guild as well as Instituto Gráfico de Chicago, a collective of Latinx printmakers from across the city.
His work is driven by a foundational urge to draw whilst working to redefine midwestern identity and place as a hybrid ancient-contemporary-nowness. Being a second generation printmaker and a third generation educator influences his use of graphic forms in the relief print tradition while also instigating a curiosity in print process and ephemera. He is intrigued by everyday rituals, icons, symbols, totemic objects, communication, and translation. Not only are these things records of ourselves, but of culture, beliefs, and our multitudes of being. The political heritage of print media as well as the vibrant soul of the Chicago Imagists fuel his practice. A satirical cartoon style infused with the flattened aesthetics of mesoamerican and Mexican folk art are employed alongside an admiration for hand-painted signs. His work synergizes elements of image and text in moments of humorous mestizaje. Passing phrases, political movements, and palpable relics of the past, are reimagined towards a liberated future for all.
Photo Credits: Sandra Oviedo
Detrás de Nosotros Estamos Ustedes: Behind Us We Are You
Atlan Arceo-Witzl
November 1st - December 12th, 2025
Review by Cristobal Alday
“My first thought was how immediately visible Atlan Arceo-Witzl’s work is—even before you reach Co-Prosperity. The windows burst with color, bold text, and unapologetic declarations. A friend beside me said, “This is what print was made for,” and I couldn’t agree more. Print has long been a revolutionary tool: repeatable, accessible, and capable of carrying powerful messages to the public. I found myself thinking of José Guadalupe Posada’s prints from the mid-1800s to early 1900s—his satirical depictions of life and politics made complex ideas accessible to everyday people. Accessibility has always been the strength of print, and Arceo-Witzl continues that sentiment here.
Arceo-Witzl, a mixed-race Chicanx visual artist, creator, and educator based in Chicago, is an active member of the Chicago Printers Guild and the Instituto Gráfico de Chicago, a collective of Latinx printmakers across the city. His window installation at Co-Prosperity carries a clear, consistent message: power to the people. The brightly colored prints display phrases like “Liberation Now!,” “Power To Not Power Over,” “Melt ICE,” “I Am Autonomous,” “Ningún Ser Humano Es Ilegal,” and “Seamos Libres.” These statements repeat across the front and side windows, creating a rhythmic display of resistance.
Walking along the window display, I couldn’t help but think about how seamlessly it connected to Printervention Subversion Summer Camp’s 2025 wheat-pasting wall done earlier this year. That project, too, filled the neighborhood with bold posters, stretching all the way into the alley. Messages such as “Go Home ICE,” “Freedom for Palestine,” and “Immigrants Welcome” echoed the same spirit. Together, they form a continuum of public, accessible, community-rooted print activism. In the times we’re living in, these messages feel not only relevant but essential—especially when presented so directly in public space.
Another crucial message in the show is people over profit. In an increasingly capitalist society, Arceo-Witzl displays an array of chairs with wooden sculptures. This area evokes both a school setting and a communal gathering place. But instead of a space where learning is controlled or prescribed, this arrangement invites viewers to sit, rest, and learn from one another. One of the posters reads” Pull up a chair”. It points toward the idea and need for “third spaces”—somewhere that isn’t home or work, where you can exist without the pressure to purchase anything. As these spaces disappear under the weight of profit-driven culture, creating environments centered on community becomes an act of resistance. Arceo-Witzl’s installation offers exactly that: a place to gather, to converse, and to imagine something better together.”
About the Writer:
Cristobal Alday (he/him) is a Midwest Queer Latinx writer, artist, researcher and curator from the south side of Chicago. He focuses on photography, and film particularly dealing with queerness, and how identity is influenced by familial dynamics, and space. Using collage making and poetic responses, he reflects on artists’ works and exhibitions to focus on the collaborative aspect of projects and art making through audience interaction. Utilizing archival family photographs and influences from around the city, he creates a form of communicating the past, present and what could be the future through a queer lens.
He is an independent curator since 2020 and currently utilizes his home to curate exhibitions with works by local, mainly queer artists of color. Recently co-curated Just Below the Surface with Carlos Flores at Chicago Art Department featuring works by Diana Solis and Patric McCoy. Just Below the Surface re-envisions mainstream LGBTQ+ narratives to not only survey and celebrate the enduring legacy and transformative histories of Chicago’s Black and Brown Queer communities but also encourages a deeper understanding of the intricate, overlapping narratives that have shaped Chicago’s history.