Juan Álvarez (Wamoo)
USA
Juan Álvarez, also known as Wamoo, is a Dominican-American video artist creating work to inspire laughter and joy. He finds a sense of resilience in this approach—“there’s a sense of resilience in finding joy in things, especially in times of great pain.” Find his latest work at @thisiswamoo
Visual
Featured Work
Excerpt from Teach Me How to Samba
See full version of Teach Me How to Samba at https://vimeo.com/366381866

Juan Álvarez (Wamoo)
Artist Statement
I like to create things that evoke laughter and feelings of joy. Nothing about my art makes me happier than seeing a small child or an older person giddily walk up to my work, smiling from ear to ear, whether it’s because they saw something they recognized or something that made them laugh. There is enough sad and angry art out there in the world—and justifiably so—and I don’t want to take up more of that space, at least at the time of writing this statement. That’s not to say I don’t have anything deep or important to say in my work—I just think there’s a sense of resilience in finding joy in things, especially in times of great pain.
Juan Álvarez, also known as Wamoo, is a Dominican-American video artist from New York City. His style can be described as an internationally flavored version of pop art, using bright colors and music to blend together influences from all over the world. He composes his videos by mixing his own shot footage with found footage, video games, and other kinds of clips to create collages. He has shown his work for events taking place at The Reef in Los Angeles, the Brooklyn Museum, and Lightbox in New York.
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