Exhibition: Adrian Esparza

Adrian Esparza:

Esparza (b. 1970) is an El Paso based artist who explores material culture by “re-instilling lost value in found objects.” Esparza first drew international appreciation through his deconstruction of the Mexican serape. Drawing inspiration from modern architecture, physical landscapes, and mid-century minimalist artists, Esparza depicts dramatic one and two-point perspectives to form striking dimensionality and volume. The artist diffuses color and expands space by weaving sarape thread around nails to form a grid. Geometric structures present in his drawings and sculptures re-imagine his own Mexican-American cultural heritage.

Adrian Esparza received his B.F.A. from the University of Texas at El Paso and his M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts in 1998. Artist residencies include ArtPace in San Antonio and the Border Art Residency in La Union. Esparza’s textile pieces travel the globe through exhibitions in the following museums and galleries: Rufino Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexico City, Mexico; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY; Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; Museo del Barrio, New York, NY; Kimball Art Center, Park Cities, Utah. Most recently, the Dallas Museum of Art featured Esparza’s pieces through the C3 Visiting Artists Project. Esparza’s works reside in the permanent collections of multiple museums including the Dallas Museum of Art, the El Paso Museum of Art, and the Perez Miami Art Museum, as well as corporate art collections such as Fidelity Investments, Houston Airports, Microsoft and Soho House.

This exhibition will include large scale “constructions”, which are made up serape thread wound on wooden supports, as well as color drawings and mixed media paintings. A free gallery guide handout with an essay by independent curator and writer Leslie Moody Casto will be available to the public.