“Jíbaro Soy” is a 20-foot-high sculpture by Puerto Rican artist Mark Rivera that debuted at Burning Man in 2023. It was reassembled at the Generator in Sparks after sitting in storage for a few months.
The figure depicts a farmer whose chest, protected by two 200-pound machetes, houses a tightly packed neighborhood of wooden houses with signs saying “no se vende” (“not for sale”).
“I just wanted to … create a sculpture that would show the world who I am, where I come from, and also talk a little bit about Puerto Rico, so that maybe I can express to other people around the world what our culture is about,” Rivera told Burning Man organizers.
Plans are in motion to install the sculpture on the Neon Line on West Fourth Street in Reno, near the J Resort.
—Kris Vagner
How ironic. Jacobs buys up large swathes of downtown and demolishes affordable housing and then buys a sculpture called “Not For Sale” with a mini-neighborhood of affordable housing incorporated in it. To be displayed on the Neon Line along with the dirt vacant lots along W 4th St. I applaud this as nothing less than brilliant Swiftian satire.