Second Saturday Exhibit Challenges Stereotypes of Immigrants, Stay-At-Home Fathers

“Werk. Hustle. Sleep. Repeat.”

That’s the motto of artist Raul Gonzalez, whose drawings, prints and dance performances often center on the idea of work and physical labor. First exhibited at Austin’s grayDUCK Gallery in November, Gonzalez’s solo show “Doing Werk” comes to Freight Gallery for Second Saturday.

In this latest series, Gonzalez draws from his experiences as a stay-at-home father as well as working constructions jobs with his own father. Included in this show are the artist’s paintings on concrete fragments (taken from actual construction sites) depicting workers in action.

In the accompanying exhibition catalog, Gonzalez explains, “No one walks up to these workers and says ‘Thank you for the road,’ or for the basic infrastructure that keeps the nation safe and mobile.”

Challenging preconceived notions about what it means to be an artist and the son of Mexican immigrants, Gonzalez’s work is also an homage to the overworked and underpaid everyman.

Free, Saturday, December 9, 7-11pm (performance at 8pm), Freight Gallery and Studios, 1913 S. Flores St., (210) 331-4382.