José Santiago Pérez (he/they) is an artist and educator who considers the formal and conceptual spaciousness of containers, like baskets and nets, as a category of object and field for queer experimentation. Residencies and fellowships include: Surf Point Foundation Residency (2026), Regional Artist-in-Residence at Contemporary Craft (2025), Fiber Fellowship at Colorado College (2024), Illinois Arts Council Agency Artist Fellowship Finalist in Craft (2024), Lunder Institute for American Art Resident Fellowship (2022), and HATCH Residency at Chicago Artists Coalition (2019-2020). Their work has been supported by an Illinois Arts Council Agency grant, an Individual Artist Program grant from the City of Chicago, and a Chicago Artists Coalition SPARK grant. José has presented solo and group exhibitions across the country and is featured in Contemporary Basketry: New Directions from Innovative Artists Worldwide (2025), a book surveying 60 artists with a wide range of approaches to the ancient art of basketry. Features and reviews of José’s work have appeared in Artforum, Basketry+ Magazine, Sixty Inches from Center, Newcity Art, and the Archives + Futures Podcast. José has held teaching appointments in the Art Department at Colorado College and in the Fiber and Material Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Image: Un/Burden (so you may release), 2020 | 36”L x 14”H x 16”W
- MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- MA, San Francisco State University
- BA, University of California, Santa Cruz
