Bio
Julio Gonzalez is a self-taught multimedia artist and a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Since leaving Atlanta as a young teenager, Julio has traveled extensively and exhibited his work in murals, galleries, and museums across the Southeast. One of Gonzalez’s defining characteristics as an artist is his use of Mexican and Mayan design elements to explore questions of contemporary life and values.
Gonzalez cites the simple question “What if?” as a cornerstone of his creativity and practice, a way to approach his ideas from different sides and explore them to the fullest. He hopes viewers of his work will find themselves asking the same question and rediscovering their sense of interconnectedness, curiosity, and childlike wonder. The simple phrase “What if?” is the concept behind the name Wonder What If, a project of which Julio is the Creative Director.
CV
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Interventions @ Mint Museum CLT NC
2016 “SONRIA” @ Haylo CLT NC
2016 Live Painting @ Mint Museum CLT NC
2015 “Curio” @ Heist Brewery CLT NC
2013 “Fit To Print” @ Dish CLT NC
2013 “Derivations” @ Espada CLT NC
2012 “CV” @ Studio 1212 CLT NC
Curated:
2020 PDA: Public Displays of Affection @ Crown Station CLT NC
Installations
2019 Dia de Los Casi Muertos @ Camp NorthEnd CLT NC
2019 Dia de Los Casi Muertos @ ArtSpace Raleigh NC
2016 Dia de Los Casi Muertos @ C3Lab CLT NC
2017 Dia de Los Casi Muertos @ C3Lab CLT NC
2018 Gonzalez Codex @ Charlotte Country Day School
Grants/Awards
2019 Knight Foundation: Celebrate Charlotte Arts
2017 Art Si Emerging Artist Award
2016 Arts & Science Council Regional Artist Grant
2016 Arts & Science Council ArtPop Billboard
Presentations/Lectures
2015 Conceptual Practices @ UNCC NC
Panels
2017 Arts & Science Council Young Donors Society @ Advent Coworking
Community Projects
2016 No Barriers Mural @ Anita Stroud Park, CLT NC
2015 Duke Energy STEM Mural Project – (Morehead STEM Academy, Vance High School, Mallard Creek High School)
2013 UNCC Children’s Literary Festival, CLT NC
2013 Cox Mills Elementary Art Show, Concord NC
2012 UNCC Community Day, CLT NC
2012 Cox Mills Elementary Art Show Concord NC
2011 Community Day @ Levine Museum of the New South, CLT NC
Group Exhibitions
2018 Wrestling the Angel, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, CLT NC
2016 Yo Soy Quixote, Raleigh NC
2015 Spring Into Art: Juried Show
2014 Facets @ Gallery Twenty Two, CLT
2014 Let The Good Times Roll, @ Gallery Twenty Two, CLT
2014 Raw Showcase, Terminal West, Atlanta GA
2013 RAW Showcase, Neighborhood Theater, CLT NC
2013 AKA Creative Elizabeth Ave Block Party, CLT NC
2013 OBRA Collective hosted by the Latin American Coalition, CLT NC
2012 Where It’s At 4, Fashion Soul @ Amos’ Southend, CLT NC
2012 Where It’s At Live Painting Event, Bass Church @ NC Music Factory, CLT NC
2011 Where It’s At Live Painting Event, AKA Creative, CLT NC
2011 CI3, Culture Initiative 3rd Anniversary Show @ AKA Creative, CLT NC
2011 Contrast @ Baku, CLT NC
Murals
2015 Gloria Chameleon Mural Concord NC
2014 Fish Mural San Diego CA
2013 Fish Mural @ Clearwater Studios, Concord NC
2012 Fish Murals @ Krazy Fish Restaurant,CLT NC
2011 Fish Mural @ Cox Mills Elementary, Concord NC
2010 Aztec Mural @ Taxco Mexican Grill, Huntersville, NC
Residencies
2017-2018 McColl Center Artist-in-Residence