
Joey Terrill (b. 1955) lives and works in Los Angeles, California, where he is Director of Global Advocacy & Partnerships for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. As a high school volunteer for “La Huelga”— the farmworkers’ unionization movement, led by Cesar Chavez—Terrill learned the grassroots activism and skills he used a decade later as AIDS ravaged Los Angeles. Through his involvement with the Metropolitan Community Church, the Gay Community Center, and the “Gay-In’s” at Griffith Park in the 1970s, he befriended fellow queer Chicanx artists Mundo Meza, Gronk, Teddy Sandoval, Robert “Cyclona” Legoretta, Jef Huereque, Victor Durazo, Jack Vargas, Diane Gamboa, and Pattsi Valdez, among others. His solo exhibitions include Just What is it That Makes Today’s Homos So Different, So Appealing?, ONE Gallery, West Hollywood (2013); Worlds of Art (with Theresa Rojas), Ohio Union, Ohio State University, Columbus (2013); Chico Moderno, Norris Fine Art Gallery, Los Angeles (1993); Gronk & Joey, Score Bar, Los Angeles (1984); and Chicanos Invade New York, Windows on White Street, New York (1981). His work has featured in the institutional surveys ESTAMOS BIEN–La Trienal 20/21, El Museo Del Barrio, New York (2020–21); Touching History: Stonewall 50, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs (2019); Through Positive Eyes, Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles (2019); Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A., Museum of Contemporary Art at Pacific Design Center and ONE Gallery, Los Angeles; and ASCO: Elite of the Obscure, A Retrospective, 1972–1987, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2011).
Joey Terrill, When I Was Young, 1995
Joey Terrill, Marky and Billy, 1993
Joey Terrill, Being Near Him, 1993
Joey Terrill, Here I am/Estoy Aquí, 2022
Joey Terrill, Breaking Up / Breaking Down, 1984–1985
Joey Terrill, Breaking Up / Breaking Down, 1984–1985 detail
Panel 9: Crying
Joey Terrill, Oscar/Ernesto, 1992–1993
Joey Terrill, Chicanos Invade New York (triptych), 1981
(left to right)
Making Tortillas in Soho
Reading the Local Paper
Searching for Burritos
Joey Terrill, Vickie And Sue Say What About Bamboo House?, 1985–1988
Joey Terrill, Orlando Waiting for Toast, 1999–2000