RF. Alvarez

Alanna Miller is pleased to present Eros, a solo exhibition of works by RF. Alvarez.

For his first solo show with Alanna Miller, Texas-based artist RF. Alvarez is developing a body of work that centers on the queer home as a sacred space, featuring personal compositions that communicate what the artist sees as pillars of the queer lived experience: belonging, indulgence, and impermanence.

These mostly figurative works depict instances that stem from Eros: crowds of friends around candlelit dinner tables, intimate moments between lovers, Texan landscapes and iconographies, and still life and interior works that serve as artifacts of a partnership. What results is an attempt to immortalize the fleeting and temporary moments of queer home-finding, moments made all the more beautiful in their transience.

For this body of work, Alvarez has developed a looser brush technique on raw, stretched linen, resulting in a softness that emphasizes light, shadow, and tone to create a rich and emotional atmosphere. These compositions' shadowy softness draws from historical references, like Dutch “Vanitas” and Renaissance chiaroscuro, to emphasize the artist’s melancholic appreciation for the life he has built with his partner. We see long summer nights, deep drinks of wine, the cool air coming through the window after intercourse, and the weight of a gendered heritage.