VILLANUEVA: EPOCH 2020-2023
Juan M. Villanueva

VILLANUEVA: EPOCH 2020-2023 is Juan M. Villanueva’s debut solo show in New York City. Villanueva is an interdisciplinary artist whose work covers a wide breadth of practices which include: site specific floral installations, topiary art, painting, sculpture and video performances. This exhibition brings together work that honors all of these practices. Juan looks to bring into focus & reconcile his time spent as a creative, living and working in Manhattan during the pandemic. Many of the pieces will have links to streamable videos of Villanueva’s process in creating the works.

The show will also feature a new site specific BioArt Installation utilizing fresh flowers, which will be created just for the exhibit. This piece will bridge the gap between Villanueva’s floral, garden and fine arts practices as it explores & unified the major motifs of the show.

About the Artist

Born & raised in South Texas, where his mother owns a flower shop. Juan briefly attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, majoring in painting & sculpture. In Chicago, Villanueva found work as an educator in community organizations, teaching workshops & mural painting. At that time, he also started his career as a professional florist. In 2003 he moved to NYC, where he continued teaching murals and working in the floral industry.

In 2008 he started his own floral design company, Villanueva Designs. In the years since, Juan has won multiple awards, was a contestant on a Discovery+ reality competition with head judge Martha Stewart, as one of the nations top topiary artist, and has produced numerous large scale site specific floral installations.

Post pandemic, Villanueva has found himself focused on his interdisciplinary art practice. In the last few years he has been in the process of creating a completely new body of work, since his hiatus & while developing his business. In 2022, he participated as an Artists in Residence in BioArt at SVA.

For more information on Juan visit his website and follow him on Instagram.