Joe De Hoyos + Alexander Hernandez
Recorded on January 29, 2023 in Palm Springs, CA, this video features artists Joe De Hoyos and Alexander Hernandez in conversation. The two bond over shared experiences such as navigating Latin cultures as HIV-positive men, working with unusual materials in formally unconventional ways, and trying to find artistic community in an increasingly commodified California art world. They also share many intergenerational struggles, such as adapting to new medication regimens, pushing back against various forms of stigmatization, and maintaining financial independence despite oppressive systems designed to keep sick people in precarity. With candor and tenderness, De Hoyos and Hernandez remind us that connection, care, and community can be found anywhere so long as we are willing to reach for it.
Joe De Hoyos
Joe De Hoyos has been a collage artist since 1987 when he took a special studies course at the University of Houston and fell in love with the process. He was drawn to working in a non-classical art medium finding influences in Dada, Surrealism, and Pop Art. Much like the Dadaists did he re-appropriate (found) imagery to create meaning out of unexpected juxtapositions. In his hands penises become line drawings, eyes become kites, and colorful dots symbolize viruses. Subjects he often touches upon include politics, sex, AIDS, fame, and consumerism.
You can view Joe’s artwork on the Visual AIDS Artist Registry here.
Alexander Hernandez
Alexander Hernandez is a mixed media artist, with an emphasis in textiles. His work explores intersectional identities rooted in immigrant experiences, gender expectations, HIV+ survival, and queer sensibilities. He was born in Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca- Mexico, raised in Grand Junction, CO and is currently living in San Francisco, CA. He received his BFA (2007) in Painting and Drawing from Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design in Denver, CO and his MFA in Studio Art (2012) from California College of the Arts in San Francisco, CA. He has been part of many art residencies including Mass Moca in North Adams, MA; SJ Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA; Root Division in San Francisco, CA; Elsewhere Museum in Greensboro, NC; Mark Rothko Art Center in Latvia; and the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT and recently finished a residency at ACME in Steuben, Wyoming.
You can view Alexander’s artwork on the Visual AIDS Artist Registry here.