Chris Cortez

About Artists Events Installation Views
Self Portrait of Chris Cortez a Mexican painter wearing a traditional mexican dress holding a basket on their head filled with miniature nude bodies.
A La Venta (2020)

ARTIST STATEMENT

A glimpse of divine self love is captured, and the outside world is put to a halt in Los Enamorados (2021). Cortez recognizes the vast differences in traditional Mexican and American cultures, but highlights a continuing commonality: playing games. Loteria is a historic staple in many Mexican and Latin American households. The range of personas, figures, and things illustrated on the cards “El Sol” y “La Luna” led Cortez to the creation of Los Enamorados (2021). Cortez gathered sources of inspiration from Katy Perry’s California Gurls music video, Will Cotton’s oil painting for her Teenage Dream cover art, and the glamor of soap operas. Cortez writes, “ Watching my family sit around the television observing the drama of it all was very formative for me. Seeing how passionately the two main lovers are, and how they don’t give up until they are in each other’s embrace. I’ve often felt as though no lover will ever understand me as much as myself, yet I long to be loved the way I love myself. My art makes that a peculiar yet beautiful possibility.”

BIO

Chris Cortez is a Mexican painter, seamstress, and performance artist whose work exists at the intersection of their infinite identity. Referencing pop culture and history to investigate fluid expression, Chris reminds us that in speaking authentically we can find the links that connect us to ourselves, each other and our own heritage.