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Exhibitions Louis Chavez

September 6 - October 4, 2023 Project Space Studio

  • Black and white photograph with a figure in the foreground that is blurred.
    Untitled, inkjet print, 2022. © Louis Chavez. Courtesy of the artist.
  • Project Space Residency

    Open Studio: September 21, 6pm

    Louis Chavez is a photographer based in Rochester, NY. Chavez uses photography to explore queer intimacy, social histories, and geographies of desire. Their solo exhibition, New Intimacies, was exhibited at the University of Rochester’s Hartnett Gallery in 2021 and at PeepSpace in Tarrytown, NY in 2023. In addition to their visual arts practice, Chavez is a curatorial assistant at the George Eastman Museum. They were a guest curator at Visual Studies Workshop in 2020 and studio assistant to photographer Joshua Rashaad McFadden in 2021. Chavez holds an M.F.A. in Photography and Related Media from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a B.S. from SUNY Brockport.

    New Intimacies is a photographic study situated in environments known for gay cruising and public sex. Taking influence from Peter Hujar and the photographs he created in the cruising areas around Manhattan’s meatpacking district, I create experimental images that seek to envision the intangible and fleeting qualities of these geographic spaces. The inclusion of various photographic strategies (such as landscapes, portraits, and abstraction) implores the audience to consider the social and cultural elements that contributed to the formation of these sites as spaces of community and public intimacy. This project contributes to visual representations of cruising culture by examining the development of these geographies of desire and liberation. My work is also influenced by queer zines, experimental cinema, and other ephemeral elements of this subculture. During my residency at VSW, I plan to develop this work into a book project and to create a series of experimental video works.


     

    VSW Project Space Residencies are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature, Monroe County, and Joy of Giving Something. Photography artists participating in the program receive support from the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation.

    Logos for Monroe County, New York State Council on the Arts, Farash Foundation, and Leonian Foundation

  • A table with prints laid out and a wall with one row of photo prints taped up.
    Louis' main objective for his VSW Project Space Residency was to determine a layout for a photobook project.
  • A wall with four rows of prints taped up, the floor with 48 photo prints laid out, and a table covered chaotically in prints.
    Pulling from years of his photographic work, Louis displayed dozens of images to create dialogue with and response from visitors to his residency studio.
  • Two photo prints taped to a wall.
    A potential spread for Louis Chavez' upcoming photobook New Intimacies.
  • A long wall covered with four rows of photo prints.
    Louis envisioned his layout by taping up (and rearranging) photo spreads and white spaces on the wall.

Visual Studies Workshop

36 King Street
Rochester, New York 14608
(585-204-0077)

© Visual Studies Workshop 2025

  •  
  • About
    • About Us
    • Staff and Board
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitch
    • Mailing List
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Become a Member
  • VSW Salon
    • Spring 2025 Programs
    • Community Curator
    • In Dialogue
  • Collections
    • Moving Images
    • Still Images
    • Books
    • Media Transfer Lab
    • Vimeo
  • Residency
    • Project Space – Apply Now
    • Apply to Residency
    • Podcast
    • Past Residents
  • Publications
    • VSW Press
    • Bookstore
    • Salon Review
  • Exhibitions
    • Exhibitions
    • History
  • Education
    • Internships
    • Virtual Reality
    • Alumni
  • News
    • Newsletter Archive
New York State Council on the Arts

Thank you to our recent supporters:

The New York State Council on the Arts, Joy of Giving Something, Monroe County NY, The Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, and all of our members and individual supporters!