$12,000

Artwork Description

This piece was awarded the Artist Lab Fellowship Grant at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Titled “De la Misma Piel (Of the Same Skin),” Villalobos’ portion of the resulting show comprised tooled leather belts printed with homophobic slurs in Spanish (“jotito,” “mariposa” and “maricón” among them), ornate belt buckles that together spelled out “joto” and paintings of famed Mexican crooner Vicente Fernandez on scraps of leather. In addition to the defiant reclamation of derogatory terms hurled at homosexuals, “De la Misma Piel” introduced multiple themes that continue to distinguish Villalobos’ work: subversion of masculinity, pointed use of text, interventions on vaquero attire and nods to Fernandez — an icon capable of making even macho men cry.