HICAGO A window washer dressed as Spiderman scales a building. A nanny clad as Cat Woman attends to children. A pizza delivery man wearing Superman garb rides a bike with pies in the basket.

The humorous photographs by Mexican artist Dulce Pinzon depict real immigrant workers in their everyday jobs. But the images also proclaim them as super heroes who work grueling hours to make a better life for their families.

The concept is linked to the immigrant experience in the United States and echoes throughout a new exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.

The collection, A Declaration of Immigration, is designed to challenge U.S. policies on the issue and call attention to unsuccessful attempts at reform, according to Carlos Tortolero, the museum's president.

''Immigration affects the whole world,'' Tortolero says. ``Immigrants are human beings who live in this country and contribute to this country. To be pro-America, you have to be pro-immigrant.''

The exhibit, with its approximately 100 paintings, photographs, sculptures, quilts and artifacts running the range of the immigrant experience, runs through Sept. 7.

Quilts tell the story of Hmong immigrants from Laos. Photographs show a Korean family's appreciation of Elvis Presley and soccer.

A retablo, or lamina, of carved figurines depicts the harrowing journeys some immigrants must make to arrive in the United States.

Tortolero got the idea for the exhibit about two years ago when Congress approved a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico. He said he was disturbed that both presumptive presidential candidates voted for the fence. So he sees the exhibit as a way to open a discussion about reform, particularly in an election year.

A large sign at the exhibit's entrance mimics the U.S. Declaration of Independence, proclaiming that the country is ``a nation of immigrants.''

It also says that ``the construction of the wall along the United States-Mexico border would stand as a symbol of persecution, much like the 20th century Berlin Wall.''

Several pieces criticize the Department of Homeland Security, particularly with regard to the fingerprinting of foreigners at airports.

Portraits by Danish artist Anni Holm feature three women from India, Colombia and Italy; their faces are comprised of fingerprints.

Other works are equally haunting.

In a series of oil paintings by Ana Fernandez, a woman completes menial tasks in outdoor landscapes. In one work, she vacuums the border at San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Written on the border wall is, ''No puedo pasar indiferente ante el dolor de tanta gente,'' which translates roughly as, ``I cannot cross [the border] indifferently without acknowledging the pain of so many people.''

Other paintings and drawings depict non-citizen immigrants who have fought in U.S. wars abroad.

A comic book-like drawing by Eric J. Garcia shows G.I. Jose poised with a gun. A line underneath him reads, ''Always treated as foreigners except when needed to kill foreigners.'' Nearby, an Uncle Sam figure says ``Se Habla Español.''

But the exhibit also reflects the lighter side of immigrant life.

One installation, Mario Ybarra's Phone Home, is a glass case filled with colorful international calling cards. Another work by Alejandro Diaz shows a series of facetious handwritten signs, including one that reads ``No Mexicans/No Tacos/You Better Think Twice America.''

Also included is a photograph of a 2006 immigrant-rights march in Chicago for which more than 100,000 people took to the streets. And there's a portrait of immigration activist Elvira Arellano, who defied a deportation order and lived in a Chicago church for a year with her U.S. citizen son.

It's called Sorrowful Mother.