Artist Shaun “El C.” Leonardo To Speak at Manhattan College

Visual and performance artist Shaun “El C.” Leonardo will visit Manhattan College on Monday, Oct. 28 to discuss how images of Latino masculinity, pop culture iconography, and the landscape of New York City impact his work. Leonardo’s visit is part of Manhattan’s campus celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

The talk, entitled Artist Talk REMIX, starts at 5:30 p.m. in Miguel Hall, room 311 (Rodriguez Room). It is free and open to the public. The College’s Modern Languages and Literatures and Urban Studies departments, in partnership with the Women and Gender Studies program and the Diversity Committee, are sponsoring the event.

Leonardo is a versatile artist who was born and raised in Queens, where he still resides and works. Inspired by the superheroes of his childhood combined with his Hispanic background and New York City upbringing, he explores the relationship between his complex masculine identity and its connection to power and vulnerability in his art. His artwork has appeared internationally with recent solo exhibitions in New York City and is currently on view at el Museo del Barrio.

He adopted the alter ego “El Conquistador” or “El C.” during a series of performances from 2004 to 2007, where he played a Mexican inspired wrestler battling the fictional “Invisible Man.” The series of performances occurred in front of live audiences, and illustrated the struggle against physical and metaphorical invisibility in society and masculine identity in Latino culture.

Shaun received his B.A. from Bowdoin College in 2001 and his M.F.A. from San Francisco Art Institute in 2005.

For more information about Artist Talk REMIX, please email Evelyn Scaramella, Ph.D., assistant professor of modern languages and literatures, at evelyn.scaramella@manhattan.edu.