fantasma paraiso / phantom paradise is a multisite exhibition by artist Felix Quintana commissioned and presented by public art nonprofit Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND). From February - March 2024, Quintana’s mixed-media works will form an ephemeral portrait of Los Angeles by placing his signature portrait and landscape photography directly in the locations that they represent. His billboards, wheatpaste posters, vinyl banners, and signs uplift the beauty of the day-to-day routines and the emblems of diasporic communities of Los Angeles. Quintana encourages a slowing-down and flattening of the past and present through his unique cyanotype style of combining photography, print-making, collage, and mixed-media.
fantasma paraiso, inspired by and named after a mixtape left behind by Quintana’s late father, will populate the city with familiar details like awnings, store windows, teenagers on bikes, donut trails in an empty parking lot, as well as images pulled from Quintana’s own family archives. Understanding that his subjective perspective is part of a larger chronicle, Felix has held public portrait sessions, and invited public contributions of personal images and archives to create these images. Quintana also embraces source material and inspiration from Google Street View, Swap Meets, and handmade signage.
Quintana chose to focus on collaborating with locations that are deeply personal, and also point to the disappearing histories of the city’s immigrant families and businesses in Southeast, Central, and East Los Angeles. The result is a witnessing of Quintana's communities, and their simultaneous enduring stories of migration, and continuance. The first two installations will take place at Plaza Mexico in Lynwood and the headquarters of art education nonprofit Art Division in MacArthur Park, with more to be unveiled this winter. 

Quintana will also install a wall mural at Art Division, a non-profit organization dedicated to training and supporting under-served youth who are committed to studying the visual arts. Art Division is based near MacArthur Park, the neighborhood that the artist currently calls home. Quintana hosted a conversation with local students to encourage community representation and participation in the process. Quintana will also lead a cyanotype-workshop at Art Division at a later date.