José Villalobos
“Fuertes y Firmes”
October 19 - December 2, 2023
Big Medium proudly presents Fuertes y Firmes by José Villalobos
“Villalobos' latest solo exhibition, Fuertes y Firmes, serves as both a continuation and an expansion of his previous work, De Los Otros. Rooted in his personal history as a descendant of bracero workers, this exhibition delves into the significant yet often overlooked narrative of queer braceros. Unlike De Los Otros, which was focused on a specific individual, Fuertes y Firmes offers an intimate exploration of the vulnerability and tenderness within the bracero community.
Villalobos examines the complex process of performing masculinity as a means to secure employment contracts, shedding light on the harsh and rigorous screenings these workers endured. Through his art, he underscores the violence of assimilation while celebrating the resilience of self-preservation.”
Fuertes y Firmes runs from October 19 - December 2, 2023
Member Preview: October 19, 7-8 PM
Opening Reception: October 19, 8-10 PM
Gallery Hours: Oct 20 - Nov 3 | By Appointment Only
Nov 4 - Nov 13 | Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays 12-6 PM
Nov 16 - Dec 2 | Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 12-6 PM
(New) Big Medium: 4201 S Congress Ave, #323
About the artist
José Villalobos was born in 1988 and grew up on the US/Mexico border between the sister cities of El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Villalobos is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptors Award and the Tanne Foundation Award. Villalobos has also been selected for the Joan Mitchel Foundation Residency Program, and the CALA Alliance Residency in Phoenix, Arizona.
His work has been exhibited in nationally and internationally recognized exhibitions, such as Trans America/n: Gender, Identity, Appearance Today at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX; Xican a.o.x Body, The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum; Desert Rider, Phoenix Art Museum and Denver Art Museum; De Los Otros, Artpace, San Antonio, TX; and, I Saw The Sign in Tucson, AZ.
José Villalobos’s work is included in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, Mexic-arte Museum, Austin, TX, the City of San Antonio Public Collection, TX, Albright College, Reading, PA, and Soho House International in Austin, TX.
josevillalobosart.com
Artist Statement
Villalobos grew up on the US/Mexico border in El Paso, TX, and was raised in a traditional and religiously (Evangelical) conservative family. His work reconciles the identity challenges in his life, caught in between traditional Mexican customs and American mores, as well as growing up with religious ideals that conflict and condemn being gay. Villalobos confronts the derogatory terms and attitudes that he continues to withstand today. The root of Villalobos’s work lies in the performativity of his identity. His accouterments are proud connections to his heritage but are also reminders of the hate and homophobia that he has had to endure. Villalobos manipulates material through the context of self-identity as he examines gender roles within family culture. He demonstrates that dismantling traditional modes of masculine identity centers an interstitial space where materiality softens virility. Villalobos protests the toxicity of machismo using objects, specifically within the norteño culture, that carry a history by deconstructing and altering them. Although new forms are created, he demonstrates the battle between the acceptance of being a maricón and assimilating to the cultural expectations.
Image courtesy of the artist.