Juan Martin del Campo Jr.
Juan grew up in Los Angeles in a traditional Mexican-American family. The weekly chore of visits to the Catholic church service was always fascinating for two reasons: the colorful stained glass windows, telling stories of saints and martyrs. And the sexual undertone of the priest and the altar boys, him being one of them. Growing up as a gay Latino, the church would be the place, where spirituality and flesh come together, at least in his imagination.
He discovered stained glass as the perfect medium to express this connection between the spirituality of light and the physicality of the male body. In the beginning, he used images inspired by the work of Bob Mizer and from vintage porn magazines like Clothesdick and translated them into glass windows. Eventually, he opened up his pallet of materials and topics, in order to explore more themes. Some of the work is reinterpretations of tarot cards, using crystals, and some are portraits of his personal group of Saints, like Sylvester and Sade, embellished with beads. he used quotes from iconic movies, written in glass, and embedded in epoxy. He integrated lighting into scenes from 80s sci-fi movies and Talavera tiles to bring you to the gay bathhouses from the same era. He is creating his own biblical canon of sinners and saints to be shared with the world.
Solo exhibitions:
2023 Wet Dream Storytime, The Code, Berlin, Germany
2022 Light in the Dark, The Hook Up, Pomona, CA
2021 Flux for Fantasy, Upstairs at Paul’s, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Mister Series, Mr. Turk, Palm Springs, CA
2009 Always Cute Never Sexy, Gallery L7, Los Angeles, CA
Group exhibitions:
2021 Bitches Rules Cycle 4, Upstairs at Paul’s, Los Angeles, CA
2019 International Insurgents, Kirk’s Groceries, Billings, MO
2017 Trump Show, World of Wonders Storefront Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Golden Girls Gone Wild, World of Wonders Storefront Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Merry Titmas, World of Wonders Storefront Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Emerging Artists, curated by Annie Wharton, the Mondrian, Los Angeles
2014 Bitches Rules Cycle 3, Pens Press, Culver City, CA
2012 FINDS! The Unusual Object, FOCA Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Gutted 2, LACE, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Divine Tribute Show, Meltdown, Los Angeles, CA
2011 The Dirty Show, City Center Motel, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Gutted 1, LACE, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Poppers Show, Texas Fire House, Long Island City, NY
2005 The Folk Show, Erotic Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Grants:
2022 Art in Public Places Grant, City of Pomona, CA
