Jesus hilario reyes

Born in 1996, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Lives and works in New York, USA

Their work revolves around various forms of movement - whether liberatory, performative, meteorological or diasporic - and is rooted in a reflection on notions of migration, displacement and transformation. Having traversed several regions of the United States, notably the Midwest, Hilario-Reyes has developed a practice rooted in the shifting realities of exile, where the tensions between presence and absence, visibility and erasure, bodies and ghosts nourish their research.
At the crossroads of sculpture, sound performance, expanded cinema, and site-specific installation, their work questions the place, often denied, of the Black body within systems of representation. Drawing inspiration from queer rave culture and Western carnivals, they mobilize cross-dressing, spectacle, and satire to blur norms of perception and highlight forms of resistance. Hilario-Reyes explores the thresholds between light and darkness, between materiality and abstraction, to imagine spaces of escape, transformation, and belonging.
At the heart of their approach is the concept of Destierro, a Spanish term that evokes the idea of being “torn from the earth.” This notion underpins their exploration of themes of exile, wandering, and shifting identity. Their constantly evolving practice moves from digital work to improvised performance, from metalwork to ephemeral installations, embracing a free and intuitive approach to materials and forms.

https://www.jesushilario.com/