WOUNDED ANIMAL was a solo exhibition by Jonathan Virginia Greene in Vulpes Bastille’s Sub Gallery. 

I use my work to explore mechanisms of desire, intimacy, and transformation that are oriented within my experience as a queer and transgender male. I pull from my desires when creating work, believing that our erotic experience is a place of true knowledge—the site of our most authentic selves. Through experimentation and play in the studio, I create a bridge with my paintings that connects aesthetic investment to erotic desire.

Sensual materials such as leather, rubber, and metal are emulated for their erotic richness. Modified by hardware such as chains and zippers, the paintings express the transformational potential of material embodiment. The line between the painting itself and what it depicts is blurred. As objects of radical difference, they conflate desire, the body, performance, and identity.

An immersive space with its own logic, the installation continues my exploration of material embodiment and its connection to desire. The small scale of the space and its “tucked away” nature behind the main gallery offer an opportunity to create an intimate and sensual experience for viewers.