Space One Eleven Art Center in Birmingham is launching two concurrent solo exhibitions: "Navegando la Masculinidad de la Frontera / Navigating the Border’s Masculinity" by El Paso-based artist José Villalobos and "see saw sawn" by local sculptor Jason Tanner Young. Villalobos’s work utilizes sculpture and performance to deconstruct machismo and queer identity within Norteño culture, while Young, an Associate Professor at the University of Montevallo, presents a body of work rooted in his extensive background in wood and expanded sculpture practices.
These exhibitions highlight the intersection of regional Southern art practices with broader borderland narratives, bringing critical national perspectives to the Alabama art scene. By pairing Villalobos, a Joan Mitchell Grant recipient, with a prominent local academic and artist like Young, the gallery fosters a dialogue between identity-driven multidisciplinary art and formal sculptural exploration within a community-accessible space.