Artist Statement
Bedroom Echoes is a collection of collaborative portraits set within my own or a temporary bedroom, featuring gay men I have met primarily through chance encounters. Through this practice, I use image-making as an alternative means of creating intimacy, inviting strangers into a shared space where the making of a photograph becomes a temporary relationship. In contrast to hypermasculine representations that often dominate contemporary visual culture, I intentionally approach the male form through a softer lens, creating images that explore tenderness, vulnerability, and intimacy.
About the Artist
Jorge Ariel Escobar (b. 1994) is a queer Latinx image-maker whose photographic practice explores intimacy, desire, and the ephemeral nature of queer connection. His work centers on chance encounters between queer men, while rendering the male form with tenderness and vulnerability. Escobar holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a BFA from James Madison University.
His recent solo exhibitions include Perspectives Gallery and Task Gallery both in Milwaukee, WI. His work has also been featured in group exhibitions at Candela Gallery (Richmond, VA), Filter Space (Chicago, IL), the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago, IL), Soho Photo Gallery (New York, NY), the Trout Museum of Art (Appleton, WI), and The Image Flow (San Anselmo, CA). His photographs are part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Contemporary Photography and earned First Place at the TMA Contemporary Exhibition at the Trout Museum of Art.
Escobar has participated in residencies and workshops at Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Snowmass Village, CO), Kala Art Institute (Berkeley, CA), and Penland School of Craft (Bakersville, NC).
He currently lives in Milwaukee, WI, where he is a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
About the Gallery:
Gallery Photoland is a non-traditional exhibition space that showcases established photographic artists who represent diverse experiences and world views. The Gallery functions to spark ideas and support connections across the Evergreen community; it is a place for inspiring students about possibilities in fine arts beyond the shores of Eld Inlet.
The Gallery hosts exhibitions aligned with the mission of The Evergreen State College.