1878 Gallery

August 27 - November 13, 2022

ArtWalk Reception
Saturday, August 27, 2022
6 – 9 PM
Artist talk at 6:30 PM

This exhibition is supported in part by a grant from Texas Commission on the Arts.

Juan Carlos Escobedo
x  J.ESC • Assimilation Apparel 

x  J.ESC • Assimilation Apparel is a pseudo apparel line by San-Antonio based artist Juan Carlos Escobedo. Through these garments, Escobedo mimics landscapes and models the distinction between lower and higher socioeconomic spaces, revealing their residual ties to class and race. Primarily composed of cardboard, a material charged with preconceived notions of crudeness, utilitarianism, disposability and brownness, Escobedo’s work parallel’s his own identity. His work navigates the constant negotiation a brown person from a low socioeconomic background is required to do in order to mitigate their physical, cultural, and socioeconomic presence in privileged white spaces not intended for them. These clothes present a physical manifestation of what has been described as "the gentrification of a brown body."

Juan Carlos Escobedo (B.1985 El Paso,TX) explores his identity as a as a brown, Mexican-American queer male, raised in a low-socioeconomic community along the US/Mexico border. His work addresses residual class and race shame that arises from living in a predominantly “white” structured United States which favors light-skinned individuals and middle-class and above socioeconomic classes. Escobedo received his BFA from New Mexico State University and MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. His work has recently been exhibited in San Antonio, where he currently resides, at Blue Star Contemporary, Centro de Artes, The Southwest School of Art, University of Incarnate Word, Palo Alto College, and Movement Gallery. His work has been recognized through awards and grants, including a Collective Futures Fund Grant from Tufts University Art Galleries: Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; an Actos de Confianza Grant from the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures; a Luminaria Artist Foundation Professional Development Grant; and a residency with Casa Lü in Mexico City, Mexico.

www.jce-art.com