José García Oliva: Participation as Practice, Solidarity as Structure

This interview is part of the series "In the Making: Conversations on Latin American Art in the UK".

Research, Interviews and Writing by Raquel Gonzalez Eizmendiz

Curatorial & Editorial Direction by Gabriela Román González & Mónica Núñez

José García Oliva is a Venezuelan visual artist based in London whose practice challenges traditional boundaries of art. Rather than focusing solely on creation, his work centres on collaboration and participation, aiming to give a platform to those who occupy roles often overlooked in society: cleaners, security staff, call centre agents, migrant labourers, and outsourced workers. “These jobs carry assumptions,” he says. “Assumptions about race and class that reinforce stereotypes. I try to find formats through which these conditions can be materialised—not represented by the individualistic 'artist', but collectively represented by the participants—using the tools and games of contemporary art.”

For Oliva, the value of his work lies not in the finished artwork but in the processes of collaboration and dialogue that precede it. The meaning is found in the conversations, methodologies, and shared experiences that collectively build the final piece. He is particularly attentive to the ethics of participatory work, noting that, “there is a risk when artists use other people’s stories to elevate themselves”. For him, true participation means sharing value, whether symbolic, emotional, or economic, with those involved, ensuring that their contributions are acknowledged and ownership is shared. These principles are essential to the work’s meaning and intention.

Over the years, Oliva has created collaborative installations that foreground collective labour and the voices behind the work. His residency at Gasworks as Participation Residency Artist exemplifies this approach. The nine-month project, developed in collaboration with independent unions, explored workers’ rights and translated these concerns into collective creative action. Among the works resulting from these collaborations were hammocks made from the Latin American Protest Archive. These artworks, in Oliva’s words, “recreate the symbolism of a place to rest, cradled by the long-term struggles of Latin American workers in the UK protesting poor working conditions since the 1970s. At the same time, the hammock holds a duality: a place of rest, but also a precarious space where one might fall, a tension that reflects the lived realities of many migrant workers."

Hammocks displayed at the public event LAND-ING / A-TERR-IZAR, 22 Jun 24, as part of his residency at Gasworks.

I’m listening to what you’re not saying and it’s very loud, 2024/ in collaboration with the outsourced cleaning team, Kalsoom, Leo, Evelyn, Edith, Benson, Juliana, Richard, Timothy, Miracle, Diana, Lydia, Zoe, and Eric Adjei. Commissioned by the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum). 

This ethic of sharing and collective ownership naturally extends into Oliva’s views on the commercial aspect of visual art. While he acknowledges the importance of engaging with the commercial sphere, he also stresses the need for critical alignment with the values he holds. For him, it is not about rejecting the idea of selling art, but about rethinking how the value generated through collaboration is shared and redistributed equally among those involved.

Oliva embraces his Latin American identity but defines it on his own terms. He considers that the label “Latino” often oversimplifies the complexities of identity and forces individuals into predefined boxes. “There is a pressure to perform a certain version of Latinidad, and to live up to external expectations of cultural canon. But identity is not a costume or a performance,” he says.

This commitment to self-definition and structural awareness shapes how he envisions solidarity, not just as a theme, but as a framework for working. His practice is rooted in a politics of care that prioritises relationship-building over representation, and co-creation over individual acclaim. “It is about who you work with, how you share space, how you resist extractivist logics, even in the art field,” he notes. While this approach offers an alternative to conventional models, it remains difficult to sustain. “It is possible to make it work,” he explains, “but challenging to live out of it if the art market does not financially support more this collaborative method of working.”

José García Oliva is a Venezuelan artist based in London. He graduated from the Royal College of Art (RCA), London, in 2020 and completed his BA in Fine Arts in Madrid. His practice is research-led and situated at the intersection between migrant and outsourced labour. The outcome of his work is usually an enactment of social exchanges or provocations shaped by the site and people with whom he collaborates. Oliva is currently an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins and Kingston School of Art and leads the MA in Visual Communication at Ravensbourne University.