The artistic practice of Julio César Morales (b. 1966, Tijuana) employs a range of media and visual strategies to explore issues of migration, underground economies, and labor, on personal and global scales. He works by whatever means necessary: in a series of watercolor illustrations, Morales diagramed means of human trafficking in passenger vehicles, while in other projects he employed the DJ turntable, neon signs, the historical reenactment of a famous meal, or the conventions of an artist-run gallery to explore social interaction and political perspectives.
Morales’ artwork has been shown at venues internationally, including; the Lyon Biennale, France; Istanbul Biennale, Turkey; Los Angeles County Art Museum, Los Angeles; Singapore Biennale, Singapore; Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany; Prospect 3, New Orleans; SFMOMA, San Francisco; Perez Art Museum, Miami; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; Museo del Barrio, New York City; The UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, amongst others. His work is in private and public collections including MoMA, New York; The Los Angeles County Art Museum, Los Angeles; The Kadist Foundation, San Francisco and Paris; The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Deutsche Bank, Germany; and The Office of Art in Embassies. Morales has been written about in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Artforum, Frieze, Flash Art, Art Nexus, and Art in America.
Multiple Voices
Ambreen Butt, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Chitra Ganesh, Julio César Morales, Ranu Mukherjee, and Eva SchlegelMay 16 - July 13, 2024Gallery Wendi Norris presents Multiple Voices, a group exhibition exploring the idea of multiplicity, material and metaphorical. Bringing together gallery artists Ambreen Butt, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Chitra Ganesh, Julio César...Read moreJulio César Morales | La Luz Entre Nosotros/The Light Between Us
October 1, 2021 - March 1, 2022Gallery Wendi Norris is pleased to present Julio César Morales' La Luz Entre Nosotros/The Light Between Us as part of our IN THE WINDOW series at gallery headquarters, 8 Octavia...Read moreBroken Lines | Julio César Morales, Yamini Nayar, Miguel Angel Ríos, Eva Schlegel, and Peter Young
October 18, 2018 - January 2, 2019GALLERY WENDI NORRIS CURATORIAL PROJECT 140 Maiden Lane, San Francisco, CA Gallery Wendi Norris, in collaboration with Whitewall Magazine and ISAIA , proudly presents Broken Lines, a curated exhibition within...Read moreJulio César Morales | This World Is Not For You
February 2 - 28, 2018GALLERY WENDI NORRIS OFFSITE EXHIBITION Torre Cube, Floor 13, Guadalajara, Mexico San Francisco, November 20, 2018 - From the first barb wire fence placed in the Southwest region to deter...Read moreThreads of Memory
One Thousand Way of Saying GoodbyeOctober 21 - November 15, 2017Gallery Wendi Norris’ final exhibition at 161 Jessie Street, Threads of Memory: One Thousand Ways of Saying Goodbye, presents a celebratory survey of the gallery’s program, including emblematic works by...Read moreJulio César Morales | Emotional Violence
November 5, 2015 - January 22, 2016October 15, 2015 - San Francisco - Gallery Wendi Norris is pleased to announce Emotional Violence , artist Julio César Morales 's third solo exhibition at the gallery Morales will...Read moreJulio César Morales | Forever Now!
May 2 - June 29, 2013San Francisco - Gallery Wendi Norris is pleased to announce Forever Now! an exhibition of interdisciplinary works by conceptual artist, Julio César Morales , which will examine ideas of boundaries,...Read moreJulio César Morales | Contrabando
April 2 - May 28, 2011San Francisco - Contrabando is a multi-media exhibition that references the larger sociological phenomenon in which immigrant economic strategies come to infiltrate urban landscapes. The adaptive nature of immigrants is...Read more
The Armory Show 2022
María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Julio César MoralesSeptember 8 - 11, 2022Gallery Wendi Norris is pleased to present two artists at The Armory Show 2022. New work by María Magdalena Campos-Pons will appear in a solo...Read moreUNTITLED, ART Miami Beach 2019
Ana Teresa Fernández and Julio César MoralesDecember 3 - 8, 2019For UNTITLED, ART Miami Beach 2019, Gallery Wendi Norris is pleased to present new work by Ana Teresa Fernández and Julio César Morales. Spanning media...Read moreEXPO Chicago 2017
Firelei Báez, Julio César Morales, and Ranu MukherjeeSeptember 13 - 17, 2017For EXPO Chicago 2017, Gallery Wendi Norris will present new works by three internationally renowned artists— Firelei Báez, Julio César Morales, and Ranu Mukherjee—who explore...Read moreEXPO Chicago 2016
IN/SITU | Firelei Báez and Miguel Angel RíosSeptember 22 - 25, 2016For EXPO Chicago 2016, Gallery Wendi Norris is pleased to present a two-person booth with gallery artists: Firelei Báez and Miguel Angel Ríos. In addition,...Read moreZona Maco 2015
Helen Rebekah Garber, Nicolas Lobo, Los Jaichackers (Julio César Morales and Eamon Ore-Girón), and Eva SchlegelFebruary 4 - 8, 2015Gallery Wendi Norris presents works by Helen Rebekah Garber, Nicolas Lobo, Los Jaichackers (Julio César Morales and Eamon Ore-Girón), and Eva Schlegel. The Gallery exhibits...Read moreArt Dubai 2014
Yorgo Alexopoulous, Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy, Sherin Guirguis and Kelly Barrie, and Julio César MoralesMarch 19 - 22, 2014Gallery Wendi Norris presented new works by Yorgo Alexopoulous, Julio Cesar Morales, artistic duo Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy, and collaborative pieces by Sherin Guirguis...Read moreArt International Istanbul 2013
Val Britton, Lionel Bawdin, Julio César Morales, and Sherin GuirguisSeptember 16 - 18, 2013Borders and Boundaries pervade the works, both aesthetically and conceptually, of four artists Gallery Wendi Norris presents at the inaugural Art International Istanbul. Val Britton,...Read more
Twelve Museums Acquire Works by Gallery Wendi Norris Artists
July 9, 2024June 9, 2024 Please join Gallery Wendi Norris in congratulating the Art Institute of Chicago, the Asian Art Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Cincinnati Art...Read moreSeven Museums Acquire Work by Gallery Wendi Norris Artists
August 24, 2023Please join Gallery Wendi Norris in congratulating Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Arizona State University Art Museum, Chapman University, Los Angeles County Museum of...Read moreThe San Francisco Standard | A Simple, Street-Facing Art Exhibit is a Beacon of Art in the Cold
December 15, 2021Max Blue December 15, 2021 A few nights ago, I was ambushed by a work of art as I walked to the Muni stop at...Read moreJulio César Morales awarded Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant
Gallery News October 22, 2020Gallery Wendi Norris proudly congratulates Julio César Morales on receiving a Joan Mitchell Foundation 2020 Painters and Sculptors Grant. Every year, the Joan Mitchell Foundation...Read more