Julio Cesar Morales sees dynamic role in arts community

By Ruben Hernandez

 ArizonaLatinos welcomes Julio Cesar Morales, an exciting new artist, curator, and educator, to the thriving Phoenix metro art scene. He comes to the Valley from San Francisco.

 Born in Tijuana, Mexico, Morales will curate shows at the ASU Art Museum at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus.

 Morales has shown his own work – primarily art/video installations and sketches – at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Harris Lieberman Gallery in New York; the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City; and the Phoenix Art Museum, among others.

 From 2008 to 2012, Morales was adjunct curator at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. He also is the founder of Queens Nails Annex, located in the Mission district of San Francisco.

 His first co-curating project for the ASU Art Museum is the exhibition, Turn Off the Sun, Selections from the Jumex Collection, which opens in March.

 Q: Why did you join the ASU Art Museum?

A: I was drawn to the museum by its rich history and the current social climate in Arizona and thought to myself, “How can art engage with social issues through innovative, smart and bold programs?”

 Q: What are the differences between the Phoenix metro and San Francisco art scenes?

A: There is an amazing energy happening here now in Phoenix, a growing community of artists and audiences, coupled with supportive institutions from non-profit spaces, such as the Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center to larger art institutions such as such the Phoenix Art Museum and the Scottsdale Contemporary Art Museum. I think the ASU Art Museum has the ability to help create a bridge between the community and the larger arts institutions with the development of the International Artist Residency Program at Combine Studios in downtown Phoenix.

 San Francisco has one of the highest per capita of non-profit art centers in the United States and serves emerging artists and San Francisco art scene incredibly well – from staple organizations such as Galeria de La Raza, Southern Exposure to Intersection for The Arts and newer venues such as Kadist Foundation.

 This is a difficult question as I am still getting to know the scene here in Phoenix, but what I do see is a more organic approach and cultivation of the arts here as opposed to San Francisco, where organizations and artist can be sometimes at odds and in competition. Another distinction is that San Francisco has a lot more commercial galleries than Phoenix. I am hoping and interested in seeing other sustainable ways in which artists can develop their own economy outside the commercial gallery scene.

 Q: What are your priorities in your new position at ASUArt Museum?

A: First, I hope to influence the ASU student body, demonstrating how art can became part of everyday life, and how creativity can influence any field.

Second, I hope to impact the local communities by bringing them in to the museum but also having public programming outside the museum as well.

 Finally, I’m hoping to work collaboratively with the greater art culture, integrating programs with the other amazing arts institutions in the area such as museums, non-profits, and artist-run spaces.

 The first project I am interested in is screening, developing and archiving or collecting contemporary video work by artists from Latin America. Considering ASU Art Museum’s important collection, video would add a much-valued component. There is a new movement that has been happening in the last 10 years of phenomenal video work coming out of Latin America, which has received global recognition, and would be great to share with the community here.

 Q: What are your favorite non-art related things to do?

A: I love learning new food recipes and cooking for my family, I really enjoy creating hybrid type of dishes, such as mixing traditional Thai cuisine with northern Mexican food and coming up with dishes I call such as Thaimex Fried Rice with Carne Asada Curry or Coconut Guacamole with Machaca.

 I also have been playing guitar since I was 12 and love playing music as a form of therapy – usually when everyone is asleep and really loud! Lastly I am looking forward to taking advantage of the beautiful Arizona desert and going camping for the first time in my life.