This installation from the Permanent Collection takes its name from balseros, a term used to refer to undocumented immigrants who make their way to the US coast on homemade rafts, or balsas. In Balsero, Manglano-Ovalle substitutes a US Coast Guard raft, such as those used to intercept would-be immigrants, for a balsa and combines it with a video evoking the uncompleted journey of the refugees. The Chicago-based artist’s work is concerned with issues of identity and the marginal status of alien communities in contemporary society.

The installation has been generously supported by Donna and Howard Stone.