OPENING RECEPTION: Fluid Gaze

Saturday, September 30, 2023 6pm – 8pm

Member Preview 5-6pm (Join at 516arts.org/join)

Public Reception 6-8pm

6:30pm: Performance by José Villalobos

Live music with DJ Anjo King & cash bar from Brew Lab 101

El Paso based artist José Villalobos will perform Deeply Rooted, Cultured and Silenced, a bilingual performance addressing the silencing amongst queer individuals in Latinx spaces and the detriment caused by cultural and traditional expectations. Villalobos’ work transforms the macho uniform of the vaquero (cowboy) through playful and provocative installations and performance.

Fluid Gaze, which features the work of a select group of artists who use textiles, beaded garments, earthen materials, scrimshaw, virtual reality technology, and performance to explore the nuances of Queer/ 2SLGBTQIA+* identity from Indigenous, non-Indigenous, and Latinx perspectives. At a time when drag show bans and anti trans legislations are sweeping the United States, challenging free speech and freedom of expression, Fluid Gaze responds to today’s social climate by addressing the subtleties of gender expression through contemporary artistic practices that reference the complex identities of the artists themselves