Meet Jose 'Joey' Gonzales IV: The artist behind Pride exhibition at La Palmera
Mykel Montana HilliardThe art pieces occupying space at La Palmera Gallery's Pride exhibition give an intimate glimpse into some of the creative minds in the South Texas LGBTQIA+ community.
Each one-of-kind piece is accompanied by a description of its creative process and artist. Some artists detail intimate accounts of self-discovery regarding gender and sexuality, while others make impassioned political statements to the world around them.
At the center of the exhibition is curator Jose "Joey" Gonzales IV, who planned the exhibit to give his peers a platform to share their art.
“Being able to expose the world to queer artists is pretty awesome,” Gonzales said. “For some of the artists, I know this is their first time being able to showcase their art.
"Helping them was very meaningful.”
Gonzales is no stranger to the Coastal Bend art scene, having participated in local and regional art shows across South Texas.
His foray into art started out as an outlet to escape his busy work schedule at Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline. In 2019, he began getting serious about his art career.
It was during this time that he would develop his artistry which marries differing styles with elements of Chicano and queer culture.
Three of his pieces -- "Self Portrait (2020)", “Cortidillo (2021)” and “Relax (2020)” -- can be seen in the exhibition.
Much like other pieces in the exhibition, Gonzales' contributions are personal and semi-autobiographical. Two pieces feature Dante, an abstract character he created based on himself, and the other is a multicolored abstract-style self portrait.
For Gonzales, planning the exhibit has been a long road. He originally conceived the idea a year and a half ago, with plans to launch the exhibit by June 2020.
To set his plan in motion he contacted The Mosaic Project of South Texas, where he connected with its president, Tom Tagliabue.
With help from Tagliabue, he was able to contact the local art community and began outlining his plans for the exhibit. However, they wouldn't come to fruition as the coronavirus pandemic forced art galleries to close.
Instead of surrendering, Gonzales decided to revisit the idea earlier this year, partnering with La Palmera in April to launch a public search for queer artists in South Texas.
After announcing the search, he began reaching out to artists through social media, where he received positive feedback from the local art community.
While the exhibition is meant to commemorate Pride Month, Gonzales said he believes queer artists should be celebrated year-round.
“But, that's not the way the culture is set up," he said. "The culture is set up to prioritize and idolize people who don't cause discomfort and are more palatable to audiences."
Gonzales said he feels people shouldn't have to mask their identity to find acceptance. “Queer people don't have the option to be more palatable or turn off their identity and that causes discomfort in heteronormative spaces,” Gonzales said.
For Gonzales, the exhibition is a step in the right direction toward what he hopes will be more forms of action to support the queer art community.
"Representation within spaces usually only leads to echo chambers of people saying the same lines but never taking direct action. That's why we need to celebrate queer artists," he said.
Looking forward, Gonzales said he hopes to curate more exhibitions for the queer community. "If I could continue to help give people from my community bigger platforms and spaces to bring their art to the public I would be fulfilled," Gonzales said.
Mykel Montana Hilliard covers breaking, entertainment and community news in South Texas. Support more coverage like this at Caller.com/subscribe.
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