Artist José Villalobos will discuss the process of deconstructing toxic masculinity and machismo through the repurposing of culturally significant found objects and conveying such themes through the use of performance.
His talk, “Un(Masc)ing Masculinities within the Norteño Landscape,” is the final Visiting Artists & Scholars Endowment (VASE) lecture of the the 2024-25 season at the Center for Creative Photography, which co-sponors the annual series with the School of Art.
About the artist
Villalobos grew up on the US/Mexico border in El Paso, TX. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He was awarded the Artist Lab Fellowship Grant for his work De La Misma Piel at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Villalobos is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptors Grant Award and Residency and is also a recipient of the Tanne Foundation Award. Villalobos has been part of internationally recognized residency programs such as Artpace, Fountainhead and the CALA Alliance residency. His work has been exhibited in the nationally and internationally at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX; NARS Foundation, New York, NY; the Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, TX; El Paso Museum of Art, TX; El Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Phoenix Art Museum, AZ and Denver Art Museum, CO and Museo De Arte Queretaro MX. among others.
Artist Statement
Villalobos’ multimedia practice conveys the effects of machismo within Norteño culture. Through sculpture and performance Villalobos’ displays a nuanced and proud connection to his heritage, withstanding the historic and violent undercurrents of homophobia that exist within it. Villalobos grew up in a traditional and religiously conservative family on the US/Mexico border in El Paso, TX. His work reconciles identity challenges he faced throughout his life, caught in between traditional Mexican customs and American mores, as well as religious ideologies condemning gayness. At the heart of Villalobos’s work lies in the performativity of these identities. Sometimes by performing self-inflicted endurance acts, he makes visible the unseen trauma endured by those who exist beyond artificially constructed “norms.” Villalobos manipulates material as he examines gender roles within family and culture. Dismantling historical modes of masculinity centers an interstitial space where materiality softens virility. Villalobos’ practice protests the toxicity of assimilation and reclaims the maricón label. As LGBTQ+ and body autonomy rights are increasingly at risk, and the government fails to provide protection for basic human rights, Villalobos’ commentary is crucial to shedding light on the silencing of queer voices.
Website: josevillalobosart.com
Instagram: @josevillalobosart
