Justin Natividad
Overview
“Taking cues from social media and gay pop culture, I focus on the contemporary male-on-male gaze, exploring the liminal space the male nude occupies, and subverting its erotic nature by focusing back onto the classical paragons of male beauty while recontextualizing my source material into a fine art context.” - Justin Natividad
Playing with one of the oldest artistic expressions, Natividad’s practice is centred on what the male muse and nude might mean today. Taking cues from social media and gay pop culture, he focuses on the contemporary male-on-male gaze, exploring the liminal space the male nude occupies, and subverts its erotic nature by focusing back onto the classical paragons of male beauty while recontextualizing his source material into a fine art context.
Natividad’s work deeply engages the viewer, drawing them inward and inviting them to inhabit the same space as his subjects. Intimate moments of delicate self-reflection are depicted through tight crops, ambient light, luster, saturated tones and monochromatic environments. Shifting the focus of his source material, he creates paintings that read like a lingering memory: at once sensual and distant.
Biography
Justin Natividad (b.1987, Texas, USA) is a Brooklyn-based artist who attended Savannah College of Art & Design where he studied painting in 2009. He presented a recent solo exhibition, Subtle gestures at Village One Art, New York, NY in 2022, and his work has been featured in group exhibitions with galleries such as Village One Art, New York, NY and Mana Contemporary, Jersey city, New Jersey. In 2023, Village One Art, New York presented his work at VOLTA ART FAIR which received widespread attention. Natividad is currently from his Sunset park studio where he is attending a residency at ArtCake and working on his next solo show.
Works
