CHICAGO — A decade-long artistic journey rooted in identity, labor, and immigrant narratives comes alive this summer through Yvette Mayorga’s new solo exhibition, Pu$h Thru, at the Monique Meloche Gallery. Blending sugary pastels and cultural symbolism, Mayorga has crafted what she calls “Latinx-oco,” a vibrant, layered visual language that reclaims Rococo aesthetics for the first-generation Mexican American experience.
Pink As Power: Reimagining Rococo Through a Latinx Lens
Inside her Pilsen studio, pink dominates the canvas — not just in hue but as a thematic force. “I’m interested in pink as skin,” Mayorga said, describing how her work explores the intersection of beauty, immigration, and Americanness. The pastel shade, historically linked with European luxury, is repurposed in Mayorga’s hands to depict the grit and grace of Latinx lives in the Midwest.
Over the years, her signature style has attracted national attention. Mayorga has exhibited her work in Connecticut’s Aldrich Museum, Crystal Bridges in Arkansas, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. But Pu$h Thru marks her first Chicago solo show since 2018 — a homecoming for the artist who’s lived in the city since 2014.
From Scrapbooks to Sculptural Canvases
Mayorga’s art is deeply autobiographical. Growing up in Moline, Illinois, she was the youngest of five in a close-knit Mexican American household. Her early love for art emerged through collages in pink diaries filled with Hello Kitty, Britney Spears, and Spongebob — now echoed in her mixed-media works.
Her studio at Mana Contemporary is packed with rhinestone charms, ceramic figurines, fake nails, and spools of fabric. These playful elements form the building blocks of her massive canvases, which merge childlike wonder with serious reflection on cultural history and personal memory.
A Birthday Party With Subtext: The Centerpiece of the Show
At the heart of the Pu$h Thru exhibition is a painting titled “She’s in the Cake/Put out the fire after Nicolas Lancret.” In it, children gather at a birthday picnic as a young Mayorga leans into a frosted cake — a nod to a family ritual.
But behind the whimsy lies subtle tension. Onlookers peer from behind gift bags, lacquered hands emerge from canvas edges, and protest scenes unfold in the background. The composition, like much of Mayorga’s work, is layered — both visually and emotionally.
“Each layer is a tribute,” Mayorga shared, referencing the 20+ layers of paint applied over a year to complete the piece. It honors her father’s factory labor at Tyson and her mother’s bakery shifts at Marshall Field’s — the unsung toil behind American dreams.
Why ‘Latinx-oco’ Matters: Beauty as Strategy
Mayorga coined the term “Latinx-oco” to describe her unique fusion of Latinx domestic culture and Rococo opulence. While her work dazzles with bright frosting and ornamental details, it also critiques the systemic erasure of immigrant stories and blue-collar labor in mainstream art.
“Her work makes me rethink the world,” said Emmanuel Ortega, an art history professor at UIC. “It’s joyful, but it’s also political — layered in every sense of the word.”
Mayorga agrees: “There’s this assumption that pink or beauty is soft. But I think that’s a trick. The work is playful, but it’s also talking about grief, being first-gen, being Latinx in America.”
Have you seen Pu$h Thru or connected with Yvette Mayorga’s style? Share your thoughts or favorite piece from her latest show by commenting on this story at ChicagoSuburbanFamily.com.
