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Communings in Queer Space | UNTITLED Art Fair, Miami Beach | December 4–8, 2024
Miami, Florida, September 24, 2024 – For the 2024 edition of UNTITLED Art in Miami Beach, Bill Arning Exhibitions (BAE) will present figurative paintings by Miami-based Jean-Paul Mallozzi in dialogue with Los Angeles-based Rajab Ali Sayed. Mallozzi (b. 1982 in Flushing, Queens) and Sayed (b. 1990 in Manila, Philippines) are both in the thick of their own romantic and social journeys as gay men and artists. BAE’s presentation Communings in Queer Space will showcase the artists’ distinct and highly personal approaches to creating work about queer belonging and is tied to the art fair’s theme this year of East Meets West.
Mallozzi, the son of Cuban and Italian immigrants raised in New York City, and Sayed, a Filipino-Pakistani who moved to America in 2013, are two bold new voices within the panoply of younger artists working in queer figuration. Their work manifests their distinctive life choices, expanding the varied possibilities of queer relationships, sexuality, physical well-being, and perspectives through intentional, passionate representations of the human figure. Their life experiences are central to this pursuit and their perspectives on queer belonging are anchored where they feel most comfortable—for Mallozzi, finding refuge at home with his husband, for Sayed in public queer spaces, raves, and concerts.
Mallozzi creates intimate, close-up paintings of gay erotics and leisure often set in the Florida home he shares with his husband. Home is one of the places where Mallozzi feels most accepted and himself, a sensation he often depicts in his work. As one example, The Fever (2024) investigates the domestic closeness found in moments of sickness, with partners finding calm in the face of bodily weakness; the work gains added meaning by Mallozzi’s positive HIV status. As another, Lessons in Mindreading (2024) inspects the pleasure and tension inherent in the act of longing to know the thoughts inside a romantic partner’s head while together in a private space.
Sayed’s paintings aim to create a dialectic between identity and representation within the history of painting; he often co-opts visual cues from historical paintings to explore personal mythologies. The works in this presentation focus on Sayed’s experience of being single in Los Angeles. They explore feelings of loneliness and arousal within the raver community, a group in which Sayed feels at home. In Body Count (2024), Sayed paints a crowded social scene, depicting the unquantifiable number of connections that present themselves in queer spaces. On Sunset (2022) places the queer body outdoors in the public sphere, uninhibited and firmly rooted in the city.
About Jean-Paul Mallozzi
Jean-Paul Mallozzi, (b. 1982) is a visual artist who lives and works in Miami Shores, Florida. Mallozzi was born and raised in Queens, New York, and received a scholarship to attend the Rhode Island School Of Design (RISD), from where he graduated in 2004 with his B.F.A. Since then, he has been collected by international galleries, museums and major collections, including the Long Beach Museum Of Art and Hollywood Arts and Cultural Center. His work has also been shown at Brooklyn Museum, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Hashimoto Contemporary, Booth Gallery, Robert Fontaine Gallery, and elsewhere.
In addition, Mallozzi has showcased his intimate portraits of close friends from his youth that reflect his experiences as a gay Cuban-Italian with HIV at both Bill Arning Exhibitions and at the Untitled Art Fair in Miami in 2021. His work explores the broad spectrum of the human condition. Ranging from youthful to mature content, the work encompasses and reveals the idea that emotions are amorphous, and each one emits a color that echoes complex emotional states that all of us can relate to, no matter what language we happen to speak.
About Rajab Ali Sayed
Rajab Ali Sayed (b. Manila, Philippines, 1990) is a visual artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Sayed received his BFA from the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan in 2013, and his MFA from the University of Houston, Texas in 2017. Additionally, he attended Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as a Fulbright Exchange Scholar in 2011.
Born in Manila and raised in Pakistan, Sayed’s path as a queer figurative painter required that he get out of Pakistan to be able to safely depict his lived experience. His paintings since arriving in the States in 2013 chronicle his friendships and romances as well as his experiences being young and gay in America through the lens of his cultures of origin. His work aims to create a dialectic between identity and representation within the history of painting, and as such he often co-opts visual cues from historical paintings to explore personal mythologies.
Along with being included in the StoneWall 50/50 show curated by Bill Arning at 1969 Gallery in New York City, his paintings have been exhibited at various international galleries and museums, including Craighead Green Gallery, Lawndale Art Center, Katy Contemporary Art Museum, Blaffer Art Museum, Texas National, and Unicorn Gallery.
About Bill Arning Exhibitions
Bill Arning Exhibitions (BAE), established in 2019, is a contemporary art gallery located in New York’s Hudson Valley dedicated to presenting challenging and thought-provoking work. With a focus on emerging and mid-career artists, BAE’s program fosters a stimulating dialogue between the universal desire to challenge convention and meaningful engagement with art history. Led by veteran curator Bill Arning, BAE continues his legacy of championing artists who push boundaries and expand the definition of art. For more information, visit www.billarning.com.
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