A New Exhibit Cuts Away at Myths About Puerto Rico

When Seattle-based Boricua artist Jo Cosme tells North Americans that she's from Puerto Rico, people often respond by oohing and aahing over the beaches, the partying, and the scenic views of the country.

"I noticed a lack of knowledge and connection of what is actually happening in Puerto Rico, especially in relation to — politically speaking — the United States. Even though [Puerto Rico] is called a territory, that's actually just a fancy term for colony," said Cosme, who was displaced to Seattle from Puerto Rico in 2018, a year after Hurricane Maria. Here, she found that people didn't understand colonization or "the realities of being, living in, enduring, and surviving that in a day-to-day modern time."

"That made me really angry," she continued. "When I moved here, I was like, I need to fill in those gaps of information of what is actually Puerto Rico." 

Cosme's latest exhibition, "Welcome to Paradise: ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!," which opened Nov. 6 at King Street Station, functions as Cosme's solo show, a group exhibition of work by Puerto Rican artists, and an invitation for Americans to sit with their relationship and conception of Puerto Rico. The show asks people to rethink their idea of escape and paradise: What makes up paradise? Paradise for who? And who suffers at the expense of seemingly pristine beaches or fancy timeshares?

Duality and a dark sense of humor permeate Cosme's work, which often plays on double interpretation of ads, symbols, images, and signs that present a postcard image of Puerto Rico. She has several large lenticular pieces, which juxtapose Cosme's photos against one another and shift depending on what angle you view them from. One lenticular pits an image of a gated home against an image of street graffiti that says "GRINGOS NOT WELCOME."

In one piece, a blue tarp is printed with a white logo that says "Discover Puerto Rico," a tourism campaign to get more people to vacation on the archipelago. But under black light, "GRINGO GO HOME" is emblazoned over the ad, a visual representation of how many Puerto Ricans see the effort to turn their home into a holiday spot for privileged Americans and other people from the global north. 

In a newer piece, Cosme flips the idea of a publicity backdrop used by real-estate companies in Puerto Rico as an advertising tool. Cosme's image depicts a part of Old San Juan with the ocean just visible through the leaves of palm trees as an iguana is perched on a rocky surface in the foreground. "DON'T DISCOVER Puerto Rico" the backdrop reads in an inoffensive cursive font. Though associated with Puerto Rico by North Americans, the green iguana is invasive to the archipelago and has decimated local flora and fauna. The piece functions as a way to draw people in — a picture of seeming paradise — while explicitly stating native resistance to the campaign.

"I'm so tired of the capitalization of natural resources that we, native islanders, don't even have access to," Cosme said. "A lot of people use the iguana to represent settlers causing damage."

One of the most stunning pieces in the show is a wall-sized cyanotype — made by exposing images on a chemically coated medium to the sun — called "Memoria en Azul/Memory in Blue," composed of a photograph Cosme took from a mountain in Puerto Rico. Lush, rolling hills populated with trees roll out into the horizon; the only houses visible are two in the corner of the image — a flip of the sandy beaches and palm trees many Americans associate with the island. The blue hue of the cyanotype also holds deep meaning for Cosme. 

"The blue really reminded me of the tarp blue, which, for me, represents a duality of neglect from the governments, both federal and local, and also protection from rain and wind," she said. "I'm just trying to show what is actually the reality of Puerto Rico. The blue is a color now that we all have a very strange relationship with, especially after experiencing the hurricane."

She also devised a twisted spin on dominoes, a game popular in Puerto Rico over which people come together to discuss life, politics, and community. In Cosme's version, players are invited to play as the major political actors in Puerto Rico: Partido Nuevo Progresista (which wants statehood), Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (which wants independence), Partido Popular Democrático (which wants to remain a U.S. colony but with more autonomy), and the United States. Each player gets secret advantages, but — spoiler alert — the U.S. always wins. The prize? A small bottle of shells and sand, a piece of Puerto Rico to take home. 

Woven into "Welcome to Paradise: ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" is a group exhibition. Cosme put out a call and invited more than 30 Puerto Rican artists to show a wide variety of work — drawings, paintings, photographs, miniatures, sculptures, and a punching bag — to complement the message of the exhibition. Luis Elier Rivera Ortiz's "Use en caso de emergencia" is a sculpture featuring two machetes — a symbol of resistance against colonizers — behind a sheet of glass for use in case of an emergency. Shey Rivera Rios' "Colonialism" is interactive: a black punching bag with "colonialismo" written on the side suspended from the ceiling above a circle of candles and flowers. Viewers are invited to put on punching gloves to proverbially beat up colonialism. 

For Cosme, it was important to welcome in the art of other Puerto Ricans to flesh out the communal feelings of what it's like to be from the island.

"I want pieces that represent the hardships of being a colony," she said. "What it feels like, good or bad, the anger, the sadness, and also wanting liberation."

During the exhibition's run, Cosme has planned several activations of the space, inviting the public to interact and think about the presented work. In addition to a Bomba performance by Otoqui Reyes that occurred opening night, Cosme also plans to host a lecture by Shey Rivera Rios on Puerto Rican futurity, documentary screenings, and monthly guided tours of the show, as well as a dominoes tournament.

"I want people to not only come for the art, because I do also see this as kind of like a Magic School Bus of education," she said. "I wanted people to interact, learn more, and just have more conversations."

Jo Cosme's "Welcome to Paradise: ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" runs through Jan. 10, 2026, at King Street Station. For more information about the exhibition, head to the Office of Arts and Culture's website or Cosme's Instagram.