Writer and experimental artist who uses various ways - essays,
performance pieces, poetry, radio performances - to challenge
restricted notions of "national culture" and "Americanness." For
example, in an early U.S. performance entitled "The Loneliness of the
Immigrant," Gómez-Peña spent 24 hours wrapped in a batik cloth in a
public elevator, where he remained still and silent as the elevator's
occupants interacted with him. He moved to Los Angeles in 1978. When
Gómez-Peña married Emily Hicks, the groom stood in Mexico and the bride
in California as they recited their vows. In 1997, his book "The New
World Border" received the American Book Award.
