Identifiable by her pleated skirt and clean white sneakers, the cheerleader is symbolic of American youth, purity, and vitality. Yet, for the artist Luis Gispert, who grew up in a deeply religious Cuban American household, these same traits called to mind stories of saints also noted for their youth and purity Combining these disparate ideas, Gispert models his cheerleaders after religious paintings depicting levitating saints at the moment of their epiphany. Utilizing what he terms a “hip-hop baroque” aesthetic, Luis Gispert combines American iconography, urban streetwear, and religious paintings into eye-popping works that celebrate the multi-layered nature of culture.