Imogen-Blue Hinojosa

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Imogen-Blue Hinojosa is a Mexican-American contemporary artist. Imogen-Blue is a trans woman, and is known for her film, photography, textile work and performance art. She was born in Texas in 1992 and currently works and lives in Berlin. She has traveled extensively and has lived in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and China. Her work focuses on the perspectives and experiences of trans artists, and trans women of colour in contemporary art history, and structural inequalities that herself and others like her must face. Imogen-Blue’s perspective informed by her intersecting identities offers a unique experience and notable art projects have been developed from this.

Early life

Imogen-Blue Hinojosa was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. Growing up in a small conservative town in South Texas, she was often exposed to homophobia, transphobia, and racism. She has been openly queer since she was 13 years old, and these experiences helped influence and inform her artwork. She explained in an interview, that because of her experiences, she focussed all her energy on getting scholarships to be able to continue her education outside of her hometown.

Education and residencies

MFA from the Goldsmiths University of London, London U.K, MFA Fine Art

Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a research university which is associated with the University of London in England.

BFA in Photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD

The Maryland Institute College of Art is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland.

Halcyon Arts Lab Fellow, Cohort 4, Washington D.C, USA (2020)

Started in 2017, residential Halcyon Arts Lab fellowships provide support and resources to emerging artists working on projects addressing issues of social justice, civic engagement, and community building. The residencies include rent-free housing, studio space, a stipend, skill building programming, exhibition opportunities, and access to a network of collectors, curators, and other experts.

A4 Sounds, We Only Want The Earth, Dublin, IE (2020)

The context for We Only Want the Earth is ongoing, unpredictable social change. The neoliberal order and the unipolar system of US hegemony are collapsing. Climate change is accelerating, and alongside it eco-fascism and “lifeboat ethics” are growing in Europe and elsewhere.

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

1. I Am Not For Loving Anymore, Mala Voadora, Porto, PT and Hošek Contemporary, Berlin, DE (2022)
   I Am Not For Loving Anymore is a solo exhibition which displays three works: The Severity of Affection, Cocoon I, and Cocoon II in addition to a presentation of a text written by Hinojosa. These works all use handmade fabric mediums in the form of leatherwork and textiles and recycled fabrics from trans sex workers from London, Ireland and Berlin.
   Imogen Blue Hinjosa’s works are a response to the prevalence of violence against trans women and sex workers across the world. The choice for the opening date (September 16, 2022) was an ode to the trans woman of colour, Ella Nik Bayan, who had committed suicide exactly one year before. The response of the authorities at the time was to deny the event of her suicide. The work draws on the connection of the production of cloth to the lives of marginalized women, including sex workers, who suffered in the production of these fabrics and then to public life where the cloth is utilized. Hinojosa utilizes bridged these themes with the current violence against trans women by revisiting this narrative and showcasing the history of these clothiers and the experiences of the lives of trans sex workers.
   
2. Dreaming At The Edges Of A Petrol Blue Room, Transformer Gallery, Washington D.C, USA (2021)
   Dreaming At The Edge Of A Petrol Blue Room is a written text in the form of both prose and poetry performed by Hinojosa in Berlin in her bedroom at her home. The text follows a story of two people who meet at a location to which they both agree for a momentary exchange. Hinojosa showcases the experiences of trans sex workers who participate in their field of work for survival purposes and incorporates experiences from her community.
3. Prologue: Invocation, The Kreeger Museum, Washington D.C, USA (2021)
   https://vimeo.com/553398918
4. Liturgia, A4 Sounds Gallery, Dublin, IE (2020) (see below)
5. Pearl (You Amuse Me / I Frighten You) curated by Camille Brechignac, b.Dewitt Gallery, The Workshop London, London, UK (2019) (see below)
6. Wes: Let the Record Show, Gallery 1301, Baltimore MD (2015) (see below)
7. ( ): A Live Performance Event, Gallery 1301, Baltimore MD (2015)
8. With Love, Unfaltering, Wilgus Gallery, Baltimore MD (2014)
9. Only Human: Perspectives of Masculinity, Leidy Atrium, Baltimore MD (2012)

Group Exhibitions

1. Our Future As The Possibility of Being, Resist? Converge & Depend, Curated by Sofia Villena Araya, Satis.factory Gallery, San Jose, CR (2020)
2. Post Mortem Party, Gender RIP/ A4 Sounds, Dublin, IE (2020)
   Gender RIP is an art collective whose goal is directed at creating safe and inviting spaces for the trans community by presenting only performers who are genderqueer including trans, nonbinary and those who do not conform to gender.
3. A Place That Fosters Us, The Workmans, London, UK (2019)
4. Penny Dreadful, Seventeen Gallery, London, UK (2019)
   In response to Charlie Fox’s book “This Young Monster”, nine artists collaborated in creating a live performance and video screenings that explores the question of “what is it to be a monster?” through the concept of the “outsider/other” in the exhibition Penny Dreadful. The exhibition concludes with a presentation by the author himself: Charlie Fox.
5. Water Jets Were Used At The Four Corners Of The Building, Art Academy, London, UK (2018)
   The exhibition Water Jets Were Used At The Four Corners Of The Building seeks to push the viewer to reject their recognition of the library and instead “live through the artist’s archive”. The works provided by the artists explore states of being, censorship, and impressions of dependency. The work is meant to provoke a reflection of the question “If academia is gained through texts, how does one begin to understand the things we cannot represent when words fail us?”.
6. Macho Menos, San Francisco LGBT Community Center, San Francisco, CA (2015)
   This exhibition investigates the Latino queer slang phrase “Macho Menos” which is a empowering term used by queer Latino persons to assert that they are both macho and queer at the same time. This phrase is derived from a malapropism of the phrase “mas o menos” (more or less). The artworks explore the term “machismo” and the notion of gender in relation to the gendered expectations of the Latino community and culture in the format of painting, photography, video, textiles, sculptures, performance, and multimedia. This is relevant because traditional binary gender roles and expectations are inherent in the Spanish language as well as Latinx communities.

Major works

1. Liturgia, A4 Sounds Gallery, Dublin, IE (2020)
   Liturgía is a collection of work that shifts between autobiography and fiction which was created as a part of, We Only Want the Earth 2020 programme and presented at A4 Sounds Gallery in Dublin, Ireland. Imogen-Blue Hinojosa draws inspiration for Liturgia from the ongoing epidemic of the deaths of trans women of colour across the world and uses her performance as a way to communicate and archive repressed histories. She explores connections between “Catholic martyrdom of saints” and real trans people who have died while incorporating themes of death, rebirth, self-becoming, retribution, trauma, and desire with elements of myth. The work encourages the audience to open conversations about trans identities and trauma.
   
2. Pearl (You Amuse Me / I Frighten You) curated by Camille Brechignac, Dewitt Gallery, The Workshop London, London, UK (2019)
   “Pearl” combines a collection of self portraiture with installation and performance in showcasing Imogen-Blue Hinojosa in her first year of transitioning. In some of the portraits she has collaborated with men in her representation in the picture, allowing them to dictate what she wears to represent their own opinion of what femininity should look like. The work is meant to question the “innate performativity of self” and class, gender and wealth in the Western context. She explores the experience of objectification and through suspension of belief she means to normalize the trans body and experience. She uses the gaze as a method of reversing the power dynamic, and forces the viewer to reestablish norms Through the work Hinojosa seeks to normalize the trans body and experience, challenge how her body is sexualized and portray a reclamation of the self.

Photography

When to Leave, China

When to Leave is a photography series documenting Imogen-Blue Hinojosa’s journey to rebuilding her life after experiencing trauma in China where she resided at the time. Photos include pictures of local food recommended to her by a Chinese medicine woman as an aid to relieve a broken heart, people she had formed relationships with and snapshots of the environment she was living in in the aftermath of the trauma.

Film

1. La Morena (2019) - https://www.imogenblue.com/la-morena#1
2. Kameha-Mija! (2019) - https://www.imogenblue.com/kameha-mija#1

Performances

1. Prologue: Invocation, Kreeger Museum, Washington D.C, USA (2021) (see above)
2. Liturgia, A4 Sounds Gallery, Dublin, IE (2020) (see above)
3. PELIGROSA, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, IE (2020)
4. Besame, (You Amuse Me / I Frighten You), b.Dewitt Gallery, The Workshop London, London, UK (2019)
5. Wes: Let The Record Show, Gallery 1301, Baltimore MD (2015)

Wes is a tribute to the life of Hinojosa’s late uncle (Wesley) who died from AIDS in 1995.

1. ( ), Gallery 1301, Baltimore MD (2015) (see above)
2. Carrion, EMP collective,Baltimore MD (2014)

https://www.imogenblue.com/1834711-carrion#1

Talks

1. Invocation, The Kreeger Museum, Washington D.C, USA (2021) (see above)
2. Forum, Working Class Creatives, London, UK (2021)
3. Liturgia, A4 Sounds Gallery, Dublin, IE (2020) (see above)
4. Mansions of the Future, Lincoln, UK (2020)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FinC8kZkQHk&t=1s

1. INFERNO Summit, London, UK (2019)

Awards

1. Arts Council England Funding in 2019
2. Savile Club Artist Grant in 2018
3. MICA Aperture Work Scholar Internship in 2014

References

Bibliography

1. A4 Sounds. “Liturgía: Imogen-Blue Hinojosa.” Liturgía. A4 Sounds Community, March 10, 2022. https://a4sounds.org/liturgia/.
2. A4 Sounds. “We Only Want the Earth.” A4 Sounds. A4 Sounds Community, September 26, 2022. https://a4sounds.org/wowte/.
3. Angelos, Ayla. “Imogen-Blue Hinojosa Merges Photography, Art and Performance to Address Her Experiences as a Latinx Trans Woman.” It's Nice That. Bureau for Visual Affairs, April 22, 2021. https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/imogen-blue-hinojosa-photography-art-220421.
4. ArtRabbit. “Water Jets Were Used at the Four Corners of the Building.” ArtRabbit. ArtRabbit, May 8, 2018. https://www.artrabbit.com/events/water-jets-were-used-at-the-four-corners-of-the-building-the-former-newington-library.
5. Campbell, Kerry. “Lincoln Creates Network Online Talk with Imogen-Blue Hinojosa.” YouTube. YouTube, June 25, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FinC8kZkQHk&t=1s.
6. Gender.RIP . “POST Mortem 1 Year Anniversary.” gender.RIP. Squarespace, January 20, 2020. https://www.gender.rip/events/2019/12/30/post-mortem-1-year-anniversary.
7. GoOut. “Imogen-Blue Hinojosa: I Am Not for Loving Anymore.” GoOut. GoOut, September 16, 2022. https://goout.net/en/imogen-blue-hinojosa-i-am-not-for-loving-anymore/szmoheu/.
8. Halcyon. “Arts Lab.” Halcyon. Halcyon, September 16, 2021. https://www.halcyonhouse.org/arts/arts-lab/.
9. Hinojosa, Imogen-Blue. “Bio - Imogen-Blue Hinojosa.” Imogen-Blue. Accessed October 4, 2022. https://www.imogenblue.com/1160074-about.
10. Hinojosa, Imogen-Blue. “The Kreeger Museum Promo Prologue: Invocation.” Vimeo. Vimeo inc., May 21, 2021. https://vimeo.com/553398918.
11. Hošek Contemporary. “Imogen-Blue Hinojosa: I Am Not for Loving Anymore.” GoOut. GoOut, September 2022. https://goout.net/en/imogen-blue-hinojosa-i-am-not-for-loving-anymore/szmoheu/.
12. Kirkali, Deniz, and Sandy Di Yu. “Approaching Performance Art: You Amuse Me / I Frighten You.” ArtRabbit. ArtRabbit, October 21, 2019. https://www.artrabbit.com/network/features/2019-october/approaching-performance-art-you-amuse-me.
13. Seventeen. “Penny Dreadful.” Facebook. Meta, May 14, 2019. https://www.facebook.com/events/seventeen/penny-dreadful/1240927159389142/.
14. Tephra, Institute of Contemporary Art. “Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art.” Facebook. Meta, April 13, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/TephraICA/photos/a.10157287748648692/10159319453683692/?type=3.
15. Queer Cultural Center. “Macho Menos.” Queer Cultural Center. QCC (Queer Cultural Center), June 3, 2013. https://queerculturalcenter.org/macho-menos/.

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