The Guest Artist Program

We love to support our community, whether through fundraisers and events or directly supporting our artists, creators, and performers.  We took a look around our store and thought, "We need sexy art to complement all this sexy stuff!"  We thought about all the artists and creators that our community is blessed with and decided to start a Guest Artist Program. 

For our first stop on this journey, we asked local artist Will Boren (he/him) to bring his amazingly beautiful art into our store so we could share it with our equally amazing community!  We hope you enjoy the bold, sexy pieces as much as we do.

Artist Statement

"I’m William Boren, and if you aren’t my therapist or one of my ex-boyfriends, you probably haven’t seen my artwork yet. I’ve been creating art for as long as I can remember, but for about 10 years, I stopped creating while I was wrapped up in a relationship that really wasn’t meant to be. When things fell apart, I decided to pick up my paints again to work through the pain. Most of my pieces are working through lifelong feelings of being broken or abandoned. Some of them are meant to be commentary on our gay community. But all of them are attempts to manifest whatever is currently occupying my brain, be it good, bad, or fluorescent."

What's In A Name?

As we were setting up the work, Will told us a bit about how he names his work.  With the bold and in-your-face nature of some of the work, his professors were quick to comment on the subject matter or the delivery of the message.  This often became the inspiration for the titles of the pieces themselves.  Think about that as you browse the work we have on display in The Montrose Forge.

Maybe (you can) say the same thing, but with subtlety (2/3) / 2018 / $300

Unsolicited / 2019 / $200

I let him take all my gold / 2018 / $300

View this fantastic work in our recently renovated store! 

The Montrose Forge - Main Store 711 Fairview Ave Houston, TX 77006 713-893-5002 Open: Monday-Saturday, Noon - 7PM

Now, go get off!