Leather Embellishing with Jose Villalobos
Dive into the world of leather with Jose Villalobos as he explores creative process and upcoming solo exhibition at the ASU Art Museum ‘Rough Rider’. All materials will be provided, no prior experience is needed—just bring your creativity and a willingness to learn!
Artist Statement: José Villalobos’s multi-media practice objects and disrupts culturally accepted stereotypes of toxic masculinity. Villalobos grew up on the US/Mexico border in El Paso, TX, and was raised in a traditional and religiously 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.
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Bio: José 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. His work has been exhibited in the nationally recognized exhibition Trans America/n: Gender, Identity, Appearance Today at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX; Artpace, San Antonio, TX; San Antonio Museum of Art, 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.
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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.
In this workshop, we aim to cover:
Villalobos will discuss the process of deconstructing toxic masculinity and machismo through the repurposing of culturally significant found objects and conveying such themes through his art practice.
Discuss, demonstrate and practice 3 different leather embellishing practices.
What to Bring:
Leather scraps, or second hand items you don’t mind practicing on (belts, bags, wallets etc.)
Tickets:
$25 tickets available online now. The ticket covers workshop time and some materials. *Discounted/free spots available. Please reach out to thems.phx@gmail.com to request.
Location: CALA Alliance at Garfield Galleria - 316 W McDowell Rd, #103 Pheonix AZ 85003
Parking available behind the Garfield Galleria through the alley or at Super Pawn off of 3rd Ave and McDowell. CALA CASA at Garfield Galleria is an 8 min walk from the Central/McDowell Light Rail Stop.
Health + Safety:
This workshop is 18+. We will be using sharp tools and reviewing artwork that may not be suitable for children.
All tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.