Board Member
Los Angeles, California
Juan Silverio (Nauj Leunam) is a queer/trans femme of Zapotec descent visual artist and arts administrator living and working in Tovangaar (Los Angeles county). Nauj’s work as an artist explores gender, belonging, and language through works on paper and performance. Juan joined LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) in 2019 as an apprentice, and now run all exhibitions and programming as the Assistant Director of Programming. They are invested in championing and building community with artists, curators, creatives, and cultural workers from LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, and communities of color across Los Angeles and beyond.
Juan/Nauj has held curatorial assistant and apprentice positions at 18th Street Arts Center, LACE, UCSB Special Collections Library, and the Getty Research Institute. They recently participated in an online exhibition, The Body by Design: LGBTQ Chicanx Art, curated by Dakota Noot for Hyperallergic. In 2022, they were an All Paper Seminar inaugural fellow at the Benton Museum (Claremont, CA) and co-edited the LACE publication for CAVERNOUS: Young Joon Kwak and Mutant Salon (2018). Juan/Nauj holds BA degrees in Book Arts and Chicana/o Studies from the College of Creative Studies and University of California, Santa Barbara.
Photo: Theresa Kim