En Foco announces the appointment of Kimberly Vaquedano-Rose, as our new Director of Operations. Kimberly comes to us with 12 years of experience in arts administration, previously the Gallery Coordinator at The Bronx Council of The Arts/Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos where she helped to organize and manage exhibitions related to underserved communities and provided many valuable services for artists.

En Foco is also proud to announce that Oscar J Rivera, previously the Exhibitions Manager is En Foco’s new Artistic Director. Oscar has been with En Foco since 2016, curated the 2017 Apartment Gallery series and will curate the Fall/Winter Nueva Luz Queer Artists Issue.

Nueva Luz: The 2018 Photography Fellowship Issue will be available for purchase and on view online on June 6th. For more information on subscribing to Nueva Luz, please contact Layza Garcia at info@enfoco.org.

En Foco, Inc. supports contemporary fine art and documentary photographers of color and diverse cultures, using photography as a platform to speak on behalf of issues related to cultural equity and access. En Foco provides its photographers, curators, critics & cultural activists with forum to advocate on behalf of an inclusive cultural policy that historically has been lacking in substance. En Foco supports its constituent artists with direct and indirect funding opportunities, professional development services, curated exhibitions, publications and networking events with industry and cultural leaders. Learn more at www.enfoco.org and follow us on facebook.com/enfoco & twitter.com/enfoco.

The En Foco Photography Fellowship Program is made possible with the generosity of the Aguado-Pavlick Arts Fund, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, the Joy of Giving Something, Inc., with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts.  En Foco is a member of the Urban Arts Cooperative. A special thank you to the Andrew Freedman Home.

©Antonio Pulgarin, Encaged Linage, Fragments of the Masculine series, 2017.

 X Gallery and En Foco  present Queer Eye, A photographic exhibition celebrating LGBTQ Pride month. The month of June was chosen to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969. As a result, we recognize this month to honor our diversity and the impact LGBT people have had in the world.

About the Artists

Lola Flash is multitalented photographer, artist and cultural documentarian revealing profound stories through her photographs. The images from her Legend series beautifully portray the hard-hitting truths of societal issues. The viewer recognizes the royal nature of the portrait, and the struggles of injustice behind the beautiful faces. She forces the viewer to engage in these social issues through her images. Common themes of Lola’s subjects are the forgotten or those ignored by mainstream media and society. Lola’s subjects range from the LGBQT community, to successful and talented women over the age of 70. Lola’s style of portraiture was recently recognized by Smithsonian magazine; as a result her work will appear in an upcoming issue.

Lisa DuBois is a visual artist. She transforms photos into unique works of art. Lisa shares images from her series Beauty Queens. The collection is enhanced portraits taken at the Imperial Court of New York Ball. The Imperial Court organization is proudly known for being one of the oldest and largest LGBTQ organizations in the world. Lisa’s subjects are shown wearing crowns and extravagant gowns living the high life. Lisa’s photos represent a subculture of self expression and creative extravagance.

Oscar J Rivera’s, series Triangle, documents queer bodies of color and personal relationships through striking and richly printed black and white photographs. Queer people of color are presented existing as their own definitions of sensual or sexual beings- masculine or feminine – driven by the intimacy of interviews with the artist. The relationship of artist to subject is heightened by the act of collaboration which aims to highlight the delicate balance between sensuality and sexuality, and the intersectionality of being queer and a person of color.

Gabriel Garcia Roman is a Mexican- American visual artist that creates works of art that are drawn from many facets of the gender and queer spectrum Gabriel transmutes his subjects into icons, dovetailing textured collage and photography into one-of-a-kind prints.  In his series Queer Icons, Gabriel finds inspiration in portraiture styles of Renaissance, Flemish and Christian Orthodox paintings, the series aims to elevate these multi-dimensional, powerful and proud contemporary figures.

Exhibition on view: June 1st to June 30th. Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 6pm

Meet and Greet: June 14th from 6 until 9 at X Gallery  163 118th street, and Malcolm X Boulevard.