Jorge Villarreal is a multidisciplinary artist educated in architecture, fine arts, and photography in the United States and abroad. As a 1st generation Mexican American, growing up in McAllen, Texas on the border of Mexico and the U.S. Villarreal was immersed into two distinct cultures. A sense of in betweenness and not belonging influences his process both in Texas and during his frequent travels between Mexico, Cuba, and recently Berlin, Germany. His work is inspired by this liminal experience and sense of discovery without a singular frame of reference.
As an architectural photographer he learned to capture the grit and friction of buildings, their vivid contrasts of color, their imperfect beauty. In his images layers of history are revealed through the peeling paint of facades.
In the tradition of the flaneur, Villarreal, walks the city as an observer. Disrupting his routine to see the forgotten amongst the familiar, he captures organic moments that reveal the rawness of nature, and occasionally distorts them beyond recognition.