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Posted: 2/19/20

New José Villalobos Art Exhibit Underway

 

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The award-winning work of San Antonio-based artist José Villalobos will continue on display at Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU)  Center for the Fine and Performing Arts (CFPA)  Gallery through April 2.

An opening reception was held March 5. Villalobos presented a performance.  Earlier in the day, he hosted an “Artist Talk” with students.  Both events were free of charge and open to the public. 

The Artist’s Statement shares his origin and art’s  focus:  “born to a traditional conservative family, Villalobos was born and raised on the U.S./ México border in El Paso, TX. He juxtaposes distress with a feeling of comfort deriving from patriarchal and religious social structures which marginalize gay identity.

“He 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 center an interstitial space where materiality softens the virility.” 

Villalobos’ life experiences and observations are transformed into powerfully arresting installations, sculptures and performances that assess gender stereotypes, gay identity and machismo culture.”

Of his work, Marissa Del Toro, Phoenix Art Museum curatorial fellow, has said, “The root of Villalobos’ work lies in the performativity of his identity. His accoutrements are proud connections to his heritage, but also reminders of the hate and homophobia that he has had to endure.”

Villalobos received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He was awarded the Artist Lab Fellowship Grant that same year for his work De La Misma Piel at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. In 2018, he was one of 25 artists from across the country to earn a $25,000 Painters and Sculptors grant from the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation. 

He has exhibited and performed at Albright College, Mexic-Arte Museum, El Paso Museum of Art, and El Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez, México, the Strut Gallery of San Francisco, CA and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, New Castle, ME. Most recently, his work was featured in the nationally recognized exhibition “Trans America/n: Gender, Identity, Appearance Today” at San Antonio’s McNay Art Museum, and was included in 11 other group exhibitions as well as four solo exhibitions across the country in 2019.

Villalobos’ work has been featured in national and regional publications including Mitú, Huffington Post, Remezcla, Out in SA Magazine and Texas Observer Magazine.  Since 2015, he has been co-director and resident artist at Clamp Light Artist Studios and Gallery.

For additional information, contact  the University’s Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 956.326.2180, email prmis@tamiu.edu, click on tamiu.edu, or visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library.

TAMIU is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and its 25th Anniversary at its north Laredo campus throughout 2020. A dedicated website shares the University’s remarkable transformation from a hybrid upper-level University to a full doctoral degree-granting University with over 29,000 graduates worldwide that enrolls over 8,400 students. Visit the calendar of Anniversary events, explore the University’s timeline, review alumni profiles and more at tamiu.edu/50

artwork by jose villalobos

The artist is seen in one of his costume creations.