A closeup of hands adorned with gold jewelry. Scenes from a sidewalk on a busy day. A woman buying quenepas (or limoncillos) from a vendor during a parade. These are but a handful of moments captured by visual artist Danielle de Jesus. More than everyday happenings that many simply pass by as they scurry to the nearest subway station, the vignettes captured by de Jesus’ art are odes to a fleeting New York City: one whose cultural fabric is being undone by the effects of gentrification.

Born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Danielle de Jesus’ work is rooted in honoring her neighborhood and preserving its legacy in the wake of its ever-changing landscape. As a Nuyorican painter, her approach is one rooted in addressing issues of displacement through the canvas. Drawing from her experiences growing up in the diaspora, de Jesus documents her Brooklyn barrio to ensure its essence is never forgotten, and to challenge and create new narratives that uplift the residents of her community.

Grounded in love and respect, de Jesus’ unwavering commitment to block and all who comprise it is unquestionable. Her paintings and photography are invitations to rethink the relationships and connections between immigrant, migrant, communities of color and capital. Centering the experiences of largely low-income Black and Brown folks in urban landscapes, de Jesus’ work is one of decolonization, pushing us to contemplate “the effects of capitalism, and the urban settler colonial histories impacting Puerto Rican diaspora communities in Brooklyn, Puerto Rico and beyond,” as stated by the artist herself. Here, de Jesus speaks to us about her beginnings as an artist, Bushwick, and navigating gentrification through the canvas.

*Danielle with her family. Bushwick, Brooklyn, 1990s. Courtesy of Danielle de Jesus.*

When did you realize visual arts was your calling?
I realized visual arts was my calling from the moment I could observe the world. I would draw Puerto Rican flags, coquis and chupacabras non stop when I was a little girl.

In an Instagram caption to one of your images, you reflect on your upbringing: “She grew up in Bushwick from 87’. Ran through it’s streets, chilled on it’s stoops every day, played in the cool waters of it’s fire hydrants…This little Bushwick baby stomped her way through the hood, all the way to an Ivy League...Dear Bushwick baby, you’re gonna make them see us. I’m proud of you.” Bushwick, your home, your community, is certainly a core piece to your identity.
Being from Bushwick is one of the greatest honors I have been blessed with, even when it hasn’t always felt that way. Bushwick molded me into the artist that I am. It allowed for me to see the world in a perspective that not many can say they experienced. It allowed for me to be part of a community that cared about one another in a beautiful way. I wouldn’t give growing up in Bushwick for the world.

Existing on the intersection of multiple identities, how has placemaking become a consistent through line across your art?
Oftentimes, we can become products of where we call home, in a good way. At least that’s how I personally see it for myself. I find a lot of pride of where my roots are (Puerto Rico), but also New York. Bushwick, specifically. I think it’s my duty to honor those places because they are what make me.

A que sabe ser Colonia? *(2023). 72x58 in. Oil on linen. Courtesy of Danielle de Jesus.*

As a Diasporican, how is your relationship to place defined, or challenged?
We are constantly trying to find a bridge to home even if we have never been there. I have always been proud of my Puerto Rican roots, but I have also always been aware of the disconnect that can sometimes arise when people are unable to physically experience their homeland. I think that is what inspired me to dive so deeply into the history of Puerto Rico in order to fill in the gaps of our story as diasporicans.

Your work sparks conversation about exactly that: the bridge between Nuyorican and Puerto Rican identity. Why is important for you to have these identities—while intrinsically linked, distinct—in conversation with one another?
It’s important to bridge the gap between the diaspora and the archipelago. Often times there’s a disconnect of histories and experiences that can often make the two feel worlds apart, but it’s critical that we realize we share a lot of the same struggles and battles including that of gentrification and displacement under the same colonizing entity.

Second Sunday in June. 48×60 in. Acrylic on table cloth. Courtesy of Danielle de Jesus.

Through their titles or subjects, many of your pieces speak to gentrification, creating dialogue about Bushwick’s changing landscape. How does art as a medium help you navigate these feelings around the changes you’re witnessing?
My work allows for me to sit with my subjects a little longer. It’s my way of bringing these subjects and stories into my space even if I’m not physically in Bushwick. Gentrification can be a very traumatizing experience, so if I could tell the story of the community I grew up in with all of it’s beauty, I prefer to do that. I choose to focus on the special moments growing up in a place like Bushwick.

Similar to your canvas work, your tablecloth series depicts every day scenes one stumbles across in Bushwick, or any predominantly Black or Brown neighborhood in NYC. A man sitting on a crate, a family waiting in their car, trash outside a building—why do you choose to immortalize these moments?
I choose to immortalize these moments because these are the moments that represent Bushwick the way that my community and I remember it. These moments are very specific to our culture growing up in New York City and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

*48x48in. Oil, table cloth, print, and capia on wood panel. Courtesy of Danielle de Jesus.*

Your art also serves as a platform about capital; by activating U.S. currency as a medium, dollar bills become sites for conversations to be held on money and its relation to Black, Brown, immigrant communities. What led you to explore currency as the site for these discussions?
It actually started with pop culture references, but after realizing through social media what peoples relationship to currency is, I decided to use currency as a way to pull people away from the monetary value of a piece of paper in order to focus on social issues and subjects that are important to society as a whole. People put a lot of emphasis on what money is. I mean when you live in a world plagued by capitalism, it can mean the difference between having a meal or a roof over your shoulder or not. I would hope that my artwork can somehow give the viewer a different perspective and make them think about things that matter more. Things like community, family, friendships, relationships and social issues that need to be addressed.

In a capitalist society, how do you define–or redefine–value? How do you remain grounded outside the material?
Knowledge is the most valuable thing. Learning about the world around us and how things that you think don’t directly effect us actually does. How we are more alike than different. Learning how we can support each other, but also how things have worked historically in order to make the changes necessary to build a better future.

Untitled. *Courtesy of Danielle de Jesus.*

This summer, you marched in a Palestinian contingent during the Bushwick Puerto Rican Day Parade. Using your platform as a space to discuss this most recent iteration of the Palestinian genocide, why has it been crucial for you to create dialogue between Puerto Rico and Palestine?
Our “contingent” was unexpected, but surprisingly well received by the Bushwick community. At first we were a bit nervous not really knowing how we would be received considering we weren’t part of the parade per say, but the community cheered us on and chanted “Free Palestine” along with us. It was the most beautiful and memorable Puerto Rican Parade I’ve ever experienced. As Puerto Ricans, we are very familiar with colonization under an empire like the U.S similar to the plight of the Palestinians. As Puerto Ricans from Bushwick we are also very familiar with displacement from our communities as well. All of these experiences are interconnected.

Art has always been a response to the times, a tool to navigate adversity, and a method of self expression and actualization. How do you utilize art to create the world you wish to live in and leave behind?
I look at my work as an archive. I don’t know that I’d say I am creating a world I wish I live in, but I think rather, I am trying to create a world that can learn about the people who have lived through it before them.

From Bushwick, With Love: Preserving Legacy with Danielle De Jesus

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