In a sequence of photographs, Aguilar holds up five cardboard signs, staging herself in the position of someone asking passersby for help. Three of the cards show dictionarylike definitions of each term in the work’s title, written in the artist’s hand, separated by signs with plus and equal signs, forming the equation Access + Opportunity = Success. In the photos in which the artist is visible, the compositions are cropped such that the top half of her head is obscured—echoing the exclusions art institutions have historically committed by denying access and recognition to artists, like Aguilar, who identify as queer, Latinx, or disabled.
Gallery label from 2022
