Joey Terrill (born October 5, 1955) is an American

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

queer visual artist. He works in the mediums of painting, collage, drawing, and photography. His work often pays tribute to gay visual artist, and features Chicano themes. Terrill uses inspiration from

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

s, 1950s and 1960s art movements, and

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

to produce his work. He is based in Los Angeles.

Early life and education

Joey Terrill was born on October 5, 1955 in Los Angeles, California, to parents of Mexican descent. He grew up as a second-generation Los Angeleno in Highland Park. Terrill went to a Catholic all-boys school, where he found his interest in Chicano political movements. Terrill met artist

Corita Kent Corita Kent (November 20, 1918 – September 18, 1986), born Frances Elizabeth Kent and also known as Sister Mary Corita Kent, was an American artist, designer and educator, and former religious sister. Key themes in her work included Christian ...

when he was young, which influenced his decision to attend

Immaculate Heart College Immaculate Heart College (1905–1981) was a private, Catholic college located in Los Angeles, California. The college offered various courses including art and religious education studies. History The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary f ...

, even though she was no longer teaching at the school during his attendance. He received a BFA degree (1976) from Immaculate Heart College; and received a MFA degree (2001) from

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...

Career

In 1969, Terrill became familiar with the

Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming Christian denominations, LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The ...

(MCC) and the

Stonewall Riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...

by reading the ''

Los Angeles Free Press The ''Los Angeles Free Press'', also called the "''Freep''", is often cited as the first, and certainly was the largest, of the underground newspapers of the 1960s. The ''Freep'' was founded in 1964 by Art Kunkin, who served as its publisher un ...

.'' The MCC introduced him to various members of the queer community, where he met Teddy Sandoval and Edmundo Meza. Together, they created art, and participated in local activism. Terrill and Sandoval began a close working artistic relationship, both inspired by their queer and Chicano identities. In the late 1970s, Terrill created ''The Maricón Series'' portrait series'','' in which he made tee shirts with the self-descriptor " maricon" to question the word's meaning and context. Terrill was also fascinated by painting and painted various titles including ''He Used to Untie My Shoes'' (1978), ''If I Were Rich, I’d Buy My Lover Expensive Gifts'' (1980–1982), ''He Wore Ray Ban Glasses, a Rolex Watch, and He Used to Eat My Ass'' (1985). From 1980 to 1981, Terrill moved to New York City but eventually returned home to Los Angeles. At the time, the

AIDS epidemic The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...

had recently broken out, affecting his closest friends and community. In 1989, Terrill tested positive for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

. Overcome by the deaths surrounding him, Terrill moved to activism to help his local community. During this time, Terrill also focused on creating work for the Chicano gay community, such as '' Chicos Modernos'', an AIDS educational comic book written in Spanish. Terrill's art from 1989 still reemerged almost twenty years later, such as in his piece
Remembrance (For Teddy and Arnie)
' (2008) based on his original painting ''Remembrance'' (1989). After the 1990s, Terrill's work reflected his community and everyday life. He also used

35mm 35 mm may refer to: Film * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM, a "musical exhibition" by Ryan Scott Oliver that features music ...

photography connecting memory, storytelling, and themes of persistence. Terrill lives in Los Angeles and is the director of global advocacy and partnerships for the

AIDS Healthcare Foundation AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and advocacy services. As of 2024, AHF operates about 400 clinics, 69 outpatient healthcare centers, 62 pharma ...

. His work can be found in museum collections, including at the

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

, and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

Work and exhibitions

"Homeboy Beautiful" (1979)

Acting as a defiance to

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its use more wi ...

culture, Terrill wrote a

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

dedicated to the representation of Chicano gay men. While only two editions and one-hundred copies sold, the zines still received cult status. In both zines, there are fashion sections with "Ask Lil Loca," sections that give popular

cholo ''Cholo'' () was a racial category used in 18th-century Spanish America to refer to people who were three-quarters Amerindians, Amerindian by descent and one-quarter Spanish people, Spanish. Its origin is a somewhat derogatory term for Multi ...

fashion advice and sections for art submissions. In the zines, Terrill wrote about "homo-homeboys" who were gang-affiliated Chicano men with internalized homophobia.

"Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A." (2017)

Organized by

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries is the oldest existing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) organization in the United States and one of the largest repositories of LGBTQ materi ...

in partnership with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles for Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, ''Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A.,'' presented art, music, and performance by queer Chicano/a artists in Los Angeles from the 1960s to the early 1990s. ''The Maricón Series (1975)'' and ''Homeboy Beautiful (1979)'' were featured. Once Upon a Time: Paintings 1981–2015 (2021)

"Joey Terrill: Cut and Paste" (2023)

From January 19 to February 25, 2023, Terrill premiered his work ''Cut and Paste,'' showcasing his collage work from the 1970s to today. The exhibition was held by /Https://www.ortuzar.com Ortuzar a gallery in Tribeca, New York. His work, using various materials, draws inspiration from Sister Corita Kent. In the middle of the gallery was a fixture of a Xerox machine called ''It's Halloween Party Time'' from the late 1990s, displaying artifacts from parties he held at the peak of the AID Crisis. Other works in the exhibit included ''When I Was Young (1993), Homeboy Beautiful (1979),'' and ''Here I am / Estoy Aquí (2022).''

References

External links

Official website

Oral history interview with Joey Terrill, 2017 December 30–31
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terrill, Joey 1955 births Living people 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters American activists American artists of Mexican descent American LGBTQ painters American LGBTQ photographers Artists from Los Angeles American queer artists Queer painters Queer photographers Chicano art American HIV/AIDS activists