Esteban Cabeza de Baca weaves his Mexican and Native American heritage into every fiber of his artistic practice. His works are a confluence of dreamscapes and historical narratives that mirror the intertwined tales of lost cultures and personal experiences. Employing a diverse palette of techniques, his works are a dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary, merging graffiti with landscapes and ancestral symbols. Cabeza de Baca challenges traditional perspectives, drawing inspiration from petroglyphs, cultural histories and Mesoamerican art, and Navajo Sand painting techniques, seeking to delve deeper into the realms of cultural impact and colonial remnants through his art.
His approach to landscape painting disrupts the colonial legacy of the genre, using plein air techniques not as a means of conquest but as a homage to the natural world. His canvases, often prepared with cochineal dye, become arenas where abstract forms and vivid imagery coexist, narrating stories of the past, present, and future. Through his work, Cabeza de Baca invites us to reconsider our relationship with history, culture, and the environment, presenting a tapestry of life that is both an exploration and a celebration of diversity.
Esteban Cabeza de Baca (b. 1985 in San Ysidro, CA) received an MFA from Columbia University in 2014 and a BFA from Cooper Union, School of the Arts in 2010. His work has been exhibited across Europe, the US and the UK. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Salt of Two Seas, Newchild, Antwerp (2024); Alma, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York (2023, solo); Light From Water, curated by Gabriel de Guzman, WaveHill public garden & cultural center, New York (2023); Let Earth Breathe, The Momentary, Bentonville (2022, solo); Plein Air, Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, Arizona (2022); Denver Art Museum, Gio Ponti 7th Floor expansion (2022); Dream Life, BB&M, Seoul (2022); Spring Hill Arts Gathering, K Art, Buffalo (2022); Nepantla, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York (2021, solo); Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Gaa Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts (2021, solo); among others. Cabeza de Baca has completed residencies at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam; LMCC Workspace Program, New York; Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, New York, NY, among others. The artist lives and works in Queens, NY.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023/ Alma, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
2022 / Let Earth Breathe, The Momentary, Bentonville
2021 / Nepantla, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
2021 / Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Gaa Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 / The Salf of Two Seas, Newchild, Antwerp
2023 / Light From Water, curated by Gabriel de Guzman, Wave Hill, New York
2022 / Plein Air, Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, Arizona
2022 / Denver Art Museum, Gio Ponti 7th Floor expansion, Denver
2022 / Dream Life, BB&M, Seoul
2022 / Spring Hill Arts Gathering, K Art, Buffalo