seen | JULIO MARIN ALEMAN 

October 4 – 27, 2024 | ANNEX GALLERY

OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, FROM 5:30 – 7:30 P.M., WELCOME AND ARTIST INTRODUCTIONS AT 6:00 P.M.

ARTIST STATEMENT

This is a story about our need for human connection. This body of work is about being seen.

Queer people have been told time and time again that we cannot exist, we cannot love, and yet our need to connect and simply be acknowledged persists. Like many subcultures and marginalized communities, when we see each other out in the world, we catch eyes and say so much with a single glance. Maybe it’s full of insecurities, fear of rejection, or curiosity. Perhaps it’s the acknowledgement that, “I see you and you see me”, connecting us for a single second. Maybe it’s a look that leads to something else: lustful, courageous, boldly holding eye contact to see what comes next.

This show is an invitation to indulge, hold eye contact and share space with someone you know nothing about. To these strangers, we are the strangers; no different in our basic need to belong, to be seen, to be validated by the gaze of someone who means nothing more to us than a second of deep human connection. 

ARTIST BIO

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Julio Aleman has always known his purpose is to make art. His academic career took him from national art contests in high school, to preparing pieces for critiques at the Univ. of Texas at Austin. Then moving to Portland, Oregon, he brought multiple business ideas to life, including slinging graphic tees at festivals, making wedding dresses, owning a dance studio, teaching dance fitness all over the city, and working on apparel design at adidas.

Whether it be dance, design, apparel, furniture, drawing, painting, or any other opportunity for him to create, Julio strives to bring to life the emotions, sensations, and ideas that come from his experience as a proud queer, Mexican American, artist, husband, and dad.