Macho Grande by Max Markwald

About the Artist: Max Markwald (He/Him/His) uses large-format oil paintings to highlight queer voices and document his gender transition. Since graduating from the University of Akron, Myers School of Art, in the Fall of 2016, he has had fifteen solo shows in the Northeast Ohio region, including exhibitions at Bay Arts, Akron Soul Train, and Massillon Museum. During an artist talk for his 2021 solo exhibition at the McDonough Museum of Art, Markwald reflected upon why he avoided the label Queer Artist for so long, saying, "Maybe it's because queer still has that bitter taste of a word I was taught not to say." Markwald now speaks openly about his struggles as a transgender man, such as being denied healthcare, denied health insurance, harassed in public, and threatened his job. In his statement, Markwald embraces his identity by saying: "I take on the label, queer artist, not as a stopping point, but rather, as a way of looking at a system that does not recognize my existence and saying: You don't get to tell me what that word means anymore."

About the Artwork: Macho Grande is a co-founder of The Cleveland Kings Action Pack and the self-ascribed Taco Bell of Drag: hot, spicy, and full of meat! When asked about how they got into drag, they responded:

“My very first performance was for a drag show fundraiser at Cleveland State University in 2011. I had seen drag kings perform at Bounce since I moved to Cleveland in 2009, but I had never considered performing until that student show. My first performance was...your first college drag performance. I picked up drag again in 2018 when my buddy Rose (Peter Pangender) and I got the bone headed idea to throw a drag fundraiser for our local abortion clinic, Preterm. We figured our friends would show up, we'd raise a hundred dollars and have a good night. With the help of a half dozen volunteer kings, we packed Now That's Class and raised over a thousand dollars for Preterm. After that, Cleveland Kings Action Pack (CKAP) was formed and we just kept putting on shows.” And when asked about how they use drag for activism, they replied:

“Drag is always activism. Undermining, muddling, and confronting gender is an act of defiance. But, literally, my drag sprang out of the need to support a necessary service in our community, abortion access. Since our first show, CKAP has raised hundreds of dollars for local Cleveland and Ohio organizations. My performances aren't always intrinsically political, but if being a queer latinx drag king raising money for abortions isn't political, I don't know what is.”