In chosenfamily, David Antonio Cruz celebrates the bonds between people who have decided they will love each other unconditionally, no biological relationship required.

He paints lavish portraits of queer people of color dressed in vibrant, patterned gowns, strings of pearls, sequin tops, and chic, boldly framed glasses. Depicted embracing, lounging, and often piled atop one another in a monumental mass, the figures are at ease and appear to unite as one.

Emerging during COVID-induced isolation, Cruz’s chosenfamily series is set at home. Victorian-era sofas cradle the subjects, whose individual bodies dangle over the wooden frames and drape across one another. The most recent additions to the series reflect on what it means to feel at home. Stretching up to eight feet wide, these immense paintings are on view through October 26 in the artist’s solo show come close, like before at Monique Meloche Gallery.

When the artist prepares to make a portrait, he might first host a dinner party or intimate gathering to form bonds between the future sitters and foster a trusting community. What follows is an elaborate photoshoot during which the subjects are encouraged to dramatize.

“The way you pose for me isn’t just sitting, there’s this sense of dripping, of leaning; we’re performing and being extra, and for me that’s the radical part, that’s the joy of being non-conforming and not falling into rules,” he said in an interview.

come close, like before is also a response to the relationship between Spain and Puerto Rico, the latter of which Cruz has ancestral ties. Referencing maritime painting traditions and Théodore Géricault’s precarious scene in “Raft of the Medusa,” in particular, the artist questions the enduring, colonial implications of the ocean and the uncertainties associated with homemaking. Through paintings filled with love and unbreakable bonds, he subverts the seafaring genre by planting his subjects on firm footing, their sights set on a hopeful future.

In addition to Cruz’s show in Chicago, New Yorkers can find the artist’s exhibition when the children come home through February 16, 2025, at Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling. Visit Instagram for more.