Marval Rex Discusses Personal Journey of Self-Discovery as a Transgender Jewish Individual
**Marval Rex’s Journey Through Identity, Art, and Ancestry: A Deep Dive**
LOS ANGELES — Marval Rex, a transmasculine Jewish artist, has been pushing boundaries and navigating the intricacies of self-discovery through thought-provoking performances for years. His newest one-man show, *Rexodus: Out of the Closet, Into the Tribe*, debuting this week at the Elysian Theater in Los Angeles, marks a significant storytelling moment in his life, combining performance art, stand-up comedy, and theater to trace his never-before-told personal journey from Salt Lake City to spiritual Judaism.
While previously known for transgressive performances that engaged intimately with his transmasc body, Rex is now sharing a deeply personal narrative that interweaves his gender identity and his discovery of his hidden Jewish ancestry. Framing his life’s journey as “sort of a TED talk, but not a boring one,” *Rexodus* becomes a bold, autobiographical exploration that transcends the personal and touches on centuries of family history affected by religious persecution.
### Early Artistic Journey
Rex’s art has always been rooted in shaking up societal norms, often using his body as a canvas to confront and engage viewers. In his early career, his performances paralleled the work of Southern Californian avant-garde artists like Paul McCarthy and Mike Kelley, also tapping into explosive themes of bodily transgression. He has often noted his deep connection to McCarthy, as both artists come from Salt Lake City, a place still somewhat socially restrictive, where expressing non-conformity is a challenge in and of itself.
The Los Angeles-based artist received an MFA from the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Art and Design in 2020. Through performances that questioned societal norms, Rex became a force in performance art, focusing heavily on what he called “shocking the world into seeing a transmasc body.” For Rex, transitioning into a gender identity of his own choosing 11 years ago led him to question societal saddles on bodies, gender, and expression, which largely governed his early art. However, the external landscapes around trans identity have changed dramatically over the years — and so has his work.
Metaphorically speaking, Rex explains that “trans people age in dog years.” Trans identity, expression, and bodies have shifted into more mainstream societal awareness over just the last decade. However, Rex’s newfound focus on another part of his identity — his Jewish heritage — introduces another rich facet of self-discovery, blending modern transmasculine identity with centuries-old Jewish roots.
### Discovering His Jewish Heritage
In *Rexodus*, Rex narrates his unique path to Judaism, which occurred alongside his trans identity but also independently in spiritually profound ways. This connection began to form in 2019, when his collaborator Oscar David Alvarez suggested Rex tune into *Weekly Energy Boost*, a podcast centered on Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah. “I was hooked,” he says. From that point, Rex consumed hundreds of episodes and embarked on a spiritual journey during the pandemic, working with a mentor via Zoom to study Kabbalah.
The narrative deepens as Rex uncovers a historic connection to Judaism in his family lineage. His mother’s family, originally from Catalonia, Spain, traces its lineage back to *conversos* — Jewish families that were forced to convert to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition to avoid systemic persecution and death. Rex reflects on the process of learning about his heritage: “The pieces were starting to fall into place.”
In 2020, Rex completed his formal conversion to Judaism. He joined forces in a b’nai mitzvah ceremony with Joey Soloway, a well-known television writer and director. Interestingly, the Torah portion for the ceremony recounts Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, a deeply symbolic moment as both a touchstone of Jewish faith and as a marker of transformational life events.
### A Hidden Family History
Rex’s Jewish ancestry was further substantiated when his mother uncovered impressive genealogical data, tracing the family back to records from the Spanish Inquisition stored at the Genealogical Society of Utah. These records listed the family name Prades, a prominent Jewish surname in Catalonia, from as far back as 1291. This revelation was a poignant realization for mother and son alike: “My mom spent 35 years living twelve blocks away from a building that held her family’s last name in the Spanish Inquisition records,” Rex marveled. His mother’s reticence in exploring these records was palpable, but Rex’s inquisitiveness catalyzed her desire to uncover more about their past together.
This rediscovered legacy of hidden Jewish identity led Rex to secure funding from Reboot Studios, a Jewish arts and culture nonprofit, to create a documentary film examining both his personal and communal ancestral history. Titled *The 700 Year Gap* — pointing to the nearly seven centuries between the family’s Jewish roots