Born and raised in Denver, CO, I continue to explore and refine my practice as a visual artist. Graduating from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2022 with a BFA and a Sexuality Studies minor, I became inspired to merge the two fields into my work. During my time in undergrad I pushed outside of my preferred mediums of drawing and painting to explore the worlds of sculpture, fiber art, photography and video art. My art primarily focuses on the queer experience with an emphasis in the homoerotic.
Sex culture has always had an influence on my life. From cruising, to kink & BDSM to the non-normative intricacies of love and relationships, I have become inspired to interpret and document these realties as evidence of the beauty With a point of view and multiple mediums in my toolbox, I have made sharing and preserving queerness through art my personal obligation.
RIELLY MARQUEZ
I am primarily an acrylic painter but also create with graphite, watercolor, silk screen printing, 3D printing, silk screen printing, sculpting (wood and bronze), photography and book making. With my acrylic painting I work in a style that blends fine value mixing with painting in flats (broad strokes that build up value shifts rather than blending) I think the combination of these two techniques aids the visual effect when painting the human body to emphasize the form, depth and reality of the subject.
I want viewers to look at my art and just realize the reality of queer and sexual bodies. I know sex and sexual power is not what everybody is going to relate to or celebrate but I want my work to be seen and acknowledged as reality in our culture. For those who do relate and celebrate sexuality, I would hope that my art makes the viewer feel seen, powerful, represented, happy and alive.
