Nurturing Masculinities: Juan Manuel Valenzuela
Curated by Erika Hirugami
Santa Monica College Emeritus Gallery
September 18, 2025 to November 7, 2025
Masculinity is conceived as a set of attributes, personality traits, and social characteristics attributed to men, such as strength, courage, and assertiveness. Machismo (aggressive hypermasculine pride) as an ideology in practice is often found at the intersection of brownness and manliness. Nurturing Masculinities is Juan Manuel Valenzuela’s blueprint and aesthetic exploration of the soft margins of intergenerationally inherited masculinity, visually juxtaposing what Valenzuela learned from his elders with the type of nurturing he aims to bestow upon his son.
