Ivan Monforte has shown work at various museums in
New York, including
Bronx Museum of the Arts,
El Museo del Barrio, and the
Queens Museum. His work often uses "simple gestures and materials, as well as emotional language and content, as strategic tools to address themes of loss and mourning, representations of class, gender, race and sexuality, as well as the pursuit of love." Monforte also works as a
social worker. In 2006, Monforte organized an exhibition at Buzzer Thirty, a gallery in
Astoria, Queens. The exhibit titled
I Never Meant to Hurt You (2006) showed artwork that expressed or represented pain, collected from seven artists. The artwork consisted of videos and paintings. In 2011, at La MaMa Galleria, he contributed to an exhibition entitled
Mixed Messages: A(I)DS, Art + Words (2011). The show was sponsored by Visual AIDS, the same artist organization with whom Monforte also produced
Play Smart (2012) trading cards. The artists each contributed artwork that used words to bring urgency to the communication of art. Monforte embroidered the words "You're Beautiful" for his piece.
There But For The Grace Of God Go I, 2007 Ivan Monforte produced a
social sculpture in 2007 at the Longwood Art Gallery in
Bronx, New York, in which free and confidential HIV tests were provided. The installation took its name from a song of the same name by the disco band,
Machine. The exhibition focused on the effects of disco on culture; during the disco era, HIV was transmitted silently throughout the community. The Bronx has some of the poorest neighborhoods in NYC, and also one of the highest rates of HIV. The goal of the exhibition was to start a dialogue about HIV in the Bronx. Monforte said on the project that "it often became an opportunity to talk about art, public health, activism, and AIDS, and their relationship to each other, as well as educate people about HIV prevention, testing, and treatment." Originally the project was conducted in the gallery kitchen at Longwood Art Gallery. However, during the second iteration of the project, it was shut down by a security guard.
Play Smart, 2012 In 2012, Ivan Monforte contributed to another project to promote knowledge on HIV.
Play Smart trading cards were created using photographs by Monforte, Amos Mac, Richard Renaldi and Christopher Schulz. The cards were designed by John Chaich. In this essay, he writes a brief history of house and
ball culture. The history of this community reflects his own work, as his work's subject is often members of the LGBTQ community that are excluded or disenfranchised members of society. Ball culture was also the topic of a project to which he contributed entitled
The B Sides in 2008. The project explored the relationship between
house music and contemporary art. The exhibition was held by
Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art in collaboration with the House of Jourdan-Zion. He also works with
Gay Men’s Health Crisis to help provide HIV prevention education to the House and Ball community and organized the twenty-first annual Latex Ball at Roseland Ballroom.
Video Work Ivan Monforte creates video work which he exhibits on several platforms, including
YouTube, and
Xtube. In 2009, he uploaded a video to YouTube entitled "I Belong To You." The video and others in this series feature Monforte in a white tank top, standing in front of a blank wall. In this video, he is kissed by an anonymous man, while the 1974 song of the same name by the girl group,
Love Unlimited, plays. The next video in the series is entitled "Que Te Vaya Bonito" after a song of the same name by Chavela Vargas. In this video, he appears visibly saddened until he is hugged by an anonymous man. He begins to cry in the man's arms. In another video of the same style as the two previous, he receives oral sex from three anonymous men. The video is titled "Tres Veces" which translates to "three times." Other videos feature him shaving his beard off or receiving a tattoo. While in
Samoa, he interviewed
Fa'afafines. He also received the Lima tattoo while he was there, the process of which he filmed. == Residencies ==