January 12 – March 30, 2025
Aftertaste is a collection of recent lumen prints that explores the ephemeral and nuanced nature of queer relationships. Through portraiture, I photograph several queer men I have encountered in various ways, collaborating with them to create scenes that suggest the aftermath of an intimate encounter.
The work engages with hook-up culture within the queer community, reflecting on the pursuit of immediate intimacy and its complexities. These images aim to capture the intangible “aftertaste” of such encounters—the subtle, lingering moments or personal details that remain in my memory long after we part ways.
The use of lumen prints is both a formal and conceptual choice. The light-sensitive process reflects the fragility of these relationships, as well as the transitory nature of intimacy itself. Through this technique, I aim to romanticize and “queer” these moments, subtly shifting the perspective on these brief instances of intimacy and connection.
The delicate, unpredictable process of creating the prints further evokes the impermanence and vulnerability that often characterize such fleeting encounters.
Jorge Ariel Escobar (b. 1994) is a queer/Latinx image-maker who holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was an Ed-GRS Fellow and received the Temkin Exhibition Award. His photographic work focuses on intimacy and desires, highlighting the ephemeral qualities of short-term romantic encounters between queer men while portraying the male form through a softer lens.
Recent solo exhibitions include the Wriston Art Galleries in Appleton, WI, and the Common Wealth Gallery in Madison, WI. Other credits include group exhibitions at the Trout Museum of Art (Appleton, WI), the Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, CO), Candela Gallery (Richmond, VA), The Image Flow (San Anselmo, CA), and the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago, IL).
He has further attended residencies and workshops at AZULE (Hot Springs, NC), Penland School of Craft (Bakersville, NC), and Anderson Ranch Art Center (Snowmass Village, CO). Jorge’s work is included in the permanent collection at the Museum of Contemporary Photography and was awarded First Place at the TMA Contemporary Exhibition at the Trout Museum of Art.
Jorge currently lives in Milwaukee, WI, where he is a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Follow Jorge on Instagram: @__jorgearielescobar
