Escobar, Jorge Ariel

Paraguayan American, b. 1994

BiographyQueer Latinx image-maker Jorge Ariel Escobar focuses on themes of intimacy, desire, and physical relationships between queer/gay men. He centers his own lived romantic encounters as source material and allows glimpses into an imagination that for many years sustained his emotional interiority. For Would You Lie With Me, genuine moments of tenderness between Escobar and his lovers exists alongside staged scenes that portray erotic longing. “Prior to coming out at twenty-three, I never experienced romantic or physical intimacy with anyone,” Escobar has said. “It was something I longed for.” As an autobiographical storyteller, Escobar consistently includes his own body as central to the work, and at times he increases the already vulnerable scenes by posing alone.

Jorge Ariel Escobar completed his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was an Ed-GRS Graduate Fellow. He has attended workshops and residencies at Penland School of Craft, Anderson Ranch Art Center, and AZULE. His work has been featured in exhibitions at the Jane Sandelin Gallery, Richmond, VA; the RI Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI; the Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI; the Photographic Arts Center, Denver, CO; Perspective Gallery, Evanston, IL; and the Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO; among others. Escobar has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 2024.