Jose Luis Benavides

​Who do we hold accountable for war, genocide, and government-enacted violence? ​​No One Held To Answer is a group exhibition and fundraiser curated with the support of Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Foundation. ​The closing reception will feature an 8pm screening of Letters to Lost Loved Ones, a documentary short by Jose Luis Benavides that traces nine incarcerated individuals’ experiences of the COVID-19 lockdown, untimely deaths, and institutional neglect. ​​Artists featured: ​​Yazan Alali ​​Jose Luis Benavides ​​Reginald BoClair ​​Dorothy Burge ​​Robert Curry ​​Da-Shuang ​​Darrell Fair ​​Stanley Howard ​​Renaldo Hudson ​​Leslie C ​​Luis Rafael Galvez ​​Mikayla Hernandez Guevara ​​Lena Linh Lê ​​Eso Malflor ​​Mira ​​Lee Nah ​​Elaina Porcaro ​​Jassiel Serna ​​Julieta Sosa ​​James Soto ​​Michael Sullivan ​​Learn more about Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Foundation here: / ​​Donate to the foundation: https://ctjmf.square.site/product/CTJMFdonate/1 ​​Donate to SPACE 01 to help keep black-owned art spaces alive and expand our programming: /space-01

FUGUE STATE CINCINNATI (tix in @numbspiral bio) Or visit thedigitalsickness.com Starts Thursday March 19th at @swell_art_cafe 7-10PM (swellartcafe.com) Opening Night with short film program! Friday 7-10PM at @parprojects Feature films + shorts Saturday 12-5PM at @wavepoolartcenter WAVE POOL gallery show opening. 7-10PM at @parprojects Feature films + shorts Featuring the work of @mahda.purmehdi @dansdansrev @drew_durepos @gracekschuler @lu3ge @bennetpimpinella @kyohei6713 @go.hermanator @cookierill @darren_douglas_floyd and Ann Lohmueller #filmfestival #cincinnati #cincinnatiart #cincinnatifilm #filmfest

So excited to present, “The Fall of Aztlán: Video-Art for Decolonial Latinx Futures” at Latinx Visions 2.0, a completely remote ZOOM conference. Screengrab and click the QR code to register and find us in Room 1 - Panel: Speculative Performance and Documentary Film on Thurs. Nov. 6, 2025 at 11:30am Mountain Time.

Thrilled to keynote this symposium. Excited to see all the homies. And if anyone can’t come to the symposium there will be a kickoff screening of Lulu en el Jardín (56 min. 2018) and Amigas Latinas Forever (10 min. 2023) before the symposium. Details on Gerber/Hart’s website, pronto.

Many thanks to Ali, for lending their voice, art, and stories to Tayta (10 min, Video, 2024). Thank you QueerCine International Film Festival (Ghent, Belgium), and International Experimental Film Festival (Athens, Greece) for supporting this small experimental documentary about love, life, and art from a trans and Palestinian-American perspective. Keep fighting the good fight.

Telling essential stories from Uptown Chicago’s queer Latinx community, Amigas Latinas Forever by José Luis Benavides is a deftly crafted short documentary, lovingly juxtaposing primary source material from the archive to illuminate the work of the Queer, family-oriented “Amigas Latinas”. The work is also a loving ode to Benavides’ mother, Lourdes. Must see tonight at Fugue State. Fugue State Phase 1 8/20 | 7PM - OPENING NIGHT Presented by Comfort Film @comfort_station @comfort_film 2579 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago Line Up Announced: Madrid Études - 10’ (on 16mm) Jimmy Schaus A film with sound (take three) - 3’ Josh Weissbach Equilibrium - 3’ Danielle Vishlitzky Unoriginal AF - 2’ Laura Herman What is a Ghost? - 6’ Eliza Fernand Gentle Fiddling - 2’ Darren Douglas Floyd Manifesto - 11’ (on 16mm) Jesse Lerner Amigas Latinas Forever - 10’ Jose Luis Benavides INTERMISSION Passenger - 3’ Patrick Connelly Light Hole - 8’ Alicia Mujynya Adjunct - 5’ Drew Durepos Fabulous Muscles - 3’ Henry Hanson In pictures Did You Get it Right - 52’ Charles Cadkin @drew_durepos @alternativejacket @j1mmy5chaus @go.hermanator @eliza.fernand @eating.sharp.fruit @darren_douglas_floyd @lernerjesse @lu3ge @degeneracy_now @documenteurr #experimentalfilm #documentary #16mm #16mmfilm #analog #filmevents #undergroundfilm #indiefilm #independentfilm #underground #contemporaryart #contemporaryartist #featurefilm #arthouse #artevents #analogfilm #documentaryfilm #docfilm

Honored to Co-present with Teagan Harris (Cherokee) at The 9th Annual Urban Native Education Conference on March 7-8, 2025. The Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative (CAICC) is excited to host this year's conference at the Newberry Library with the support of the D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies. This conference is free and open to the public. Friday: Join us as we honor and celebrate the incredible individuals who dedicate their time and talents to uplifting the Chicago American Indian community. This special event will recognize the outstanding contributions of our volunteers and bring together community members for an evening of appreciation and connection. /voty-2025-registration-form/ Saturday: Weaving Worlds: Collaborating X Communities Chicago (Zhegagoynak - via Pokagon Band of Potawatomi) is a place of woven worlds. For thousands of years, Native communities have traversed waterways and trails and converged on the shores of Lake Michigan to gather, trade, and build relations with one another. This connection is reflected in our theme for the 9th Annual Urban Native Education Conference: Weaving Worlds: Collaborating X Communities. Register here: /ninth-annual- education-conference-2025/

We're grateful to share 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢'𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘨: 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘴 by Qais Assali and Jose Luis Benavides – to experience this moving image work, make an appointment to visit our media room in Uptown, or view online via the #LinkInBio. What are the parallels between Mexican and Palestinian history and how can we envision solidarity between Chicano and Palestinian people? In this work Palestinian artist Qais Assali and Latinx artist Jose Luis Benavides search for Santa Anna's missing leg in order to build a monument for the leg in Ramallah, Palestine as part of Qalandiya International 2018. The Mexican general Santa Anna not only lost his wooden leg to U.S. forces during the American invasion and occupation of Mexico in the Mexican-American War, but he also lost half of Mexico's territories to the U.S. at the end of that war in 1848. Sharing in the trauma of Mexico's stolen lands in 1848 and the 1948 Nakba in Palestine, the two artists film their strange journey to Springfield, IL (USA) where a military museum keeps guard of Santa Anna's wooden leg in its odd fortress as a macabre trophy of U.S. global imperialism. This work was commissioned in 2018 for The Lasting Effect, Qalandiya International, “Solidarity”, Ramallah, Palestine. It was a part of 'On Collaboration & Solidarity,' a conversation with lifelong human rights South African Activist Albie Sachs and Independent Curator Reem Fadda, hosted by Dar Jacir for Art and Research, Bethlehem. @qaisassali is an interdisciplinary artist/designer born in Palestine in 1987 and raised in the UAE before returning to Palestine in 2000. Recently, Assali joined the School of the Museum of Fine Arts' faculty at Tufts University, Boston, MA. @lu3ge is a Latinx and queer photographer, moving image maker, and assistant professor of digital media. Working primarily with a range of personal archives, his work explores issues relating to gender, sexuality, culture, and migration. This work plays as a part of 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, with works by Mark Alcazar Diaz, Kayla Anderson, Norman W. Long, Regina Martinez, Kristin McWharter, Curtis Miller, Zachary Nicol, and Josh Rios. 🌲🌲🌲

We're grateful to share an excerpt of 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢'𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘨: 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘴 by Qais Assali and Jose Luis Benavides – to experience the full work, make an appointment to visit our media room in Uptown, or view online via the #LinkInBio.  What are the parallels between Mexican and Palestinian history and how can we envision solidarity between Chicano and Palestinian people? In this work Palestinian artist Qais Assali and Latinx artist Jose Luis Benavides search for Santa Anna's missing leg in order to build a monument for the leg in Ramallah, Palestine as part of Qalandiya International 2018. The Mexican general Santa Anna not only lost his wooden leg to U.S. forces during the American invasion and occupation of Mexico in the Mexican-American War, but he also lost half of Mexico's territories to the U.S. at the end of that war in 1848. Sharing in the trauma of Mexico's stolen lands in 1848 and the 1948 Nakba in Palestine, the two artists film their strange journey to Springfield, IL (USA) where a military museum keeps guard of Santa Anna's wooden leg in its odd fortress as a macabre trophy of U.S. global imperialism. This work was commissioned in 2018 for The Lasting Effect, Qalandiya International, “Solidarity”, Ramallah, Palestine. It was a part of 'On Collaboration & Solidarity,' a conversation with lifelong human rights South African Activist Albie Sachs and Independent Curator Reem Fadda, hosted by Dar Jacir for Art and Research, Bethlehem. @qaisassali  is an interdisciplinary artist/designer born in Palestine in 1987 and raised in the UAE before returning to Palestine in 2000. Recently, Assali joined the School of the Museum of Fine Arts' faculty at Tufts University, Boston, MA. @lu3ge  is a Latinx and queer photographer, moving image maker, and assistant professor of digital media. Working primarily with a range of personal archives, his work explores issues relating to gender, sexuality, culture, and migration.  This work plays as a part of 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, with works by Mark Alcazar Diaz, Kayla Anderson, Norman W. Long, Regina Martinez, Kristin McWharter, Curtis Miller, Zachary Nicol, and Josh Rios. 🌲🌲🌲

I’m super excited to program and moderate this screening and discussion event for Sin Cinta Previa (@sincintaprevia ) platform and series. We’re looking forward to hearing from the filmmakers, Susan Dobinsky ( susdob2 ) and Julia Kurtz, and one of the subjects of this unseen late 1980s documentary featuring Sandra Antongiorgi (@santongiorgi ) as a teenager at the time. Join us for a rich discussion on murals in Latinx communities, from the perspective of the community members and muralists alike. Thanks to our event location Chicago Art Department (@chicagoartdept ) for generously hosting. Thanks to our event sponsor Chicago Film Archives (@chicagofilmarchives ) whose initial connection started this journey. Many thanks to Art Design Chicago (@artdesignchicago ), Terra Foundation (@terraamericanart ), and Hyde Park Art Center (@hydeparkartcenter )’s Artist Run Chicago Fund #artistrunchicagofund for generously funding this event.