“My intention was to explore the tension between the flashy, flamboyant nature of these objects and their practical role in offering protection.”
— José Villalobos
José Villalobos is a Texas-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans sculpture, installation, performance, photography, drawing, and fashion. Drawing from their upbringing along the United States–Mexico border, Villalobos repurposes cowboy hats, boots, belts, saddles, rope, and rodeo equipment to examine masculinity, machismo, gender, religion, and queer identity within Norteño culture. Their work has been exhibited at the McNay Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, Artpace, and ASU Art Museum, where Rough Rider marked their first solo museum exhibition in the United States. Villalobos’s work is held in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art and is represented in Dallas by Liliana Bloch Gallery.