Rubén Esparza
b. 1962, El Paso, TX, lives and works in Los Angeles, California
Rubén Esparza is a Queer Latinx artist, designer, and independent curator whose practice operates at the intersection of memory, materiality, and resistance. His work investigates Queer and Chicanx/Latinx histories, examining the complex negotiation between colonizer and colonized identities within his own genealogy. Esparza prioritizes conceptual inquiry over material form—a deliberate methodological inversion that prioritizes the idea over the object. His practice oscillates between sociopolitical critique and intimate celebration of Brownness and queerness.
Esparza studied Art History and Graphic Design at The Art Institute of Houston and independent curatorial studies at Node Curatorial Studies Berlin. In 2012, he founded the Queer Biennial, an international survey of LGBTQ+ art and culture that he continues to direct. The Biennial operates from its Los Angeles base, with satellite programs in Mexico City, Paris, and Zurich, presenting work by emerging, mid-career, and established artists across installation, film, performance, and documentary practices.
Esparza has participated, organized, and curated projects at numerous institutions, including The Broad, The Getty Center, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, ONE Archives Foundation, Museo de la Ciudad de México, Leslie-Lohman Museum, ICA San Diego, Self Help Graphics, Santa Monica Museum, National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Tom of Finland Foundation, among others. His work has been included in Art Basel Miami and Paris+ par Art Basel, as well as at alternative spaces and community arts organizations throughout Los Angeles and internationally.
His work is held in permanent collections at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Orange County Museum of Art, Rubell Museum, Laguna Art Museum, Santa Monica Museum, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Self Help Graphics, SOMOS Group, the Tom of Finland Foundation, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Minnesota, and Instituto Cultural de Baja California, among other institutional and private collections nationally and internationally.
www.queerbiennial.com — @rubenesparza669 — ruben@rubenesparza.com
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025
World AIDS Day: Artists and Activism — Lecture, The Broad (Oculus Hall), Los Angeles, CA
Strings Attached: Queering Proximities, Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, CA
Eden, Last Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Printed Matter/Lost & Found (PB&S Publication), Art Center, Pasadena, CA
MORBOFILIA, Manos Amigues, Mexico City, MX
2024
THE STUDIES: Untitled Flags — Solo exhibition, Queer Biennial/WeHo City, West Hollywood Library, WeHo, CA
VITAM PICTURARUM: Life in Pictures, Queer Biennial/WeHo City, Long Hall, (+ curator) WeHo, CA
VITAM PICTURARUM: La Vida en Fotos, Queer Biennial/Manos Amigues, Mexico City, MX
American Vignette: Symbols, Society, and Satire, Rubell Museum, Washington DC
ART SPEAKS THROUGH US, TOFF Art & Culture Art Festival, Halle AM Berghain, Berlin, DE
IN FLAGRANTE DELICTO: Textile, Polaroids & Experiments, Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
2023
At The Heart Of It, LGBT Center, exhibition (as curator), Los Angeles, CA
Ooze, The Happy Lion/China Town, Los Angeles, CA
Flesh & Flowers-Made in America, No Name (Paris+ at Art Basel) Paris, FR
CUT-UPS TOFF Art & Culture Art Festival, Soho Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
Decoding Americana’s Queer Sensibilities, Arushi, Los Angeles, CA
Printed Matter/Lost & Found (PB&S Publication), The Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
QUEERING THE LENS, Getty Center (as organizer of lecture), Los Angeles, CA
EDEN, La Tierra de la Culebra, Los Angeles, CA
Queer Califas Transmisión Transitorias — Solo exhibition, ArtsSpace Mexico, Mexico City, MX
Bribones Libertines: Jotxs y Recuerdos, Pequeños Bribones, Mexico City, MX
a/o/x (Queer Califas), Highways, performance/exhibition (as curator), Santa Monica, CA
2022
Queer Biennial 2022, Ciudad Lavanda de Sueños, Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico, MX
Queer Biennial 2022, Lavender City of Dreams, West Hollywood/Los Angeles, CA
Fantasies & Fails/Collage Artworks — Solo exhibition, Childs Gallery, Boston MA
Getty Summer Festival, Roots in Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
EDEN, The Garden of Emily, Los Angeles, CA
Privacy Creep, Moskowitz Bayse, Los Angles, CA
The Future is Queer, Bermudez Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Feet of the Gods/TOFF Art & Culture Art Festival, Second Home, Los Angeles, CA
2021
Fantasies & Fails: Collages 2015-2020 (solo), CULTUREEDIT at TOF Store, Los Angeles, CA
Closet to Quarantine, Childs Gallery, Boston MA
PRIDE PUBLICS: Words and Actions with the ONE Archives Foundation, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
CUIR, Isabel Croxatto Galeria, (Artsy online exhibition), Santiago Chile, California2021
FISSURES, Coaxial Arts Twitch (livestream), Los Angeles, CA
PRIDE PUBLICS: Words and Actions with the ONE Archives Foundation, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
2020
PLUGGED-IN/TOF Art Festival 2020, Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, California
Circus of Books, BLOWOUT: Fierman Gallery, (Artsy online exhibition), New York, New York
QiPO Fair 2, Gaona-80 Bucareli, Mexico, Mexico
PHOTO LA, Round Hole/Square Peg, Santa Monica, California
2019
Queer Forms, Regis Center for the Arts/University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Forging Territories: Queer Afro and Latinx Contemporary Art, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, California
Piss + Blood & Spunk — solo exhibition, TOM House (Tom of Finland Foundation), Los Angeles, California
Ghosted: Cruising/No Cruising (solo), Navel LA, Los Angeles, California
The Body Is The Instrument, TOM House (Tom of Finland Foundation), Los Angeles, California
Let Me Come Home, Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries, Los Angeles, California
Circus of Books, Fierman Gallery, New York, New York
2018
Viva Las Fotos: Day of the Dead /Memorial for Laura Aguilar, Avenue 50 Gallery, Los Angeles, California
The Violators, Studio UZI and Leslie-Lohman Museum, Brooklyn and New York, New York
PARAISOS/QUEER LA LATINX ART, LA LGBT Center, Los Angeles, California
Body Politics, Downtown Library Glendale, Glendale, California
Mein Schwules (My Gay Eye), The Ballery, Berlin, Germany
What if Utopia-Queer Biennial III, Navel, TOF Foundation, Last Projects, PDNE et al, Los Angeles, California
2017
Baño de Oro: Podemos Convertir Todo en Oro, Galeria chlORO, Mexico City, Mexico
Remembrance: Gay Chicano Art, Regis Center for the Arts/University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
HERE. THERE. EVERYWHERE/LA QUEER LATINX EXHIBITION, LA LGBT Center, Los Angeles, California
QUEER CALIFAS/LA LATINX ART, Plummer Park-Long Hall, West Hollywood, California
Los Four meets Los 40/Contemporary Chicano Art, Gregorio Escalante Gallery & La Bodega Gallery, Los Angeles and San Diego, California
2016
FATA From the Archives to the Archives (Queer Signs of the Times), PRIDE rally group performance, West Hollywood, California
Queer Signs of the Times-History/Visual Art (from AIDS to Orlando Massacre) — solo exhibition, WeHo City Hall, West Hollywood, California
Transgressive Fall, Antebellum Gallery, Los Angeles, California
CineArte/LGBTQ Latinx Exhibition, Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries, Los Angeles, California
Yooth Loss & Found-Queer Biennial II, Industry Gallery, TOFF, Please Do Not Enter, Los Angeles, California
Yooth Loss & Found-Queer Biennial II, ACE Hotel, LACA, PAM, PRIDE, West Hollywood and Los Angeles, California
2015
The Adonis Project/Marica Mascaras/FATA/Pinko®, Human Resources, Los Angeles, California
Dia de Los Muertos, Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, California
Frank LA/No Place Like Home, Please Do Not Enter, Los Angeles, California
RIOT 2, part of West Hollywood PRIDE weekend, Los Angeles, California
No Human Being is Illegal, Mercado La Paloma, Los Angeles, California
Femo®, Wallspace, Los Angeles, California
2014
LA NY and Parts in Between-Queer Biennial I, Hotel Gaythering at Art Basel, Miami, Florida
LA NY and Parts in Between-Queer Biennial I, Coagula Curatorial, TOFF, PDNE, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Galeria Sin Fronteras: Gilberto Cardenas Collection, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, Illinois
2013
13.4.13: 13 Artists, Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles, California
2012
Salon Style, Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles, California
Celebrating 40 Years of Chicano and Latino Art and Culture, Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, California
Third Annual Queer Pile-up, ForYourArt, Los Angeles, California
2011
Tel Art Phone, Beacon Arts Center, Inglewood, California
2010
John Palatinus: Tomorrow's Man, Antebellum Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2008
27 Annual Art Exhibition & Sales, Frank Romero Studio, Los Angeles, California
Chora Prints 08: New Political Poster, Metabolic Studio, Los Angeles, California
HOMOBRE L.A., Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, California
2006
Quinceañera: Celebration of the Latino Male, Antebellum Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Pelon, Antebellum Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2003
Rubén Esparza: Philosophers with Balls® and Other Paintings — solo exhibition, The Basement, Echo Park, California
2000-01
Hecho en Califas: The Last Decade, Plaza de la Raza, Los Angeles, California
(Traveled to: Mexican Heritage Plaza, San José, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, La Raza Galeria, Sacramento, Arte Américas, Fresno,
Centro Cultural, San Diego, East of the River: Chicano Art Collectors, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, California)
2000
I.Q. Pop, Soolip Gallery, West Hollywood, California
Iconoclash, Circle Elephant Art Gallery — solo exhibition, Hollywood, California
L. A. National Juried Art Exhibition 4, Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Show 2000, Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Erotica, The Advocate Gallery/LA LGBT Center, Los Angeles, California
1996-07-09
Rubén Esparza: Brand New Paintings/Mostly Diptychs — solo exhibition, VIVA at Beyond Baroque, Venice, California
Rubén Esparza: Macots, Logos/Tradmarks — solo exhibition, VIVA at Beyond Baroque, Venice, California
Exorcise Dementia, Exercise Dementia, Exercise — solo exhibition, VIVA at Beyond Baroque, Venice, California
PROGRAMMING/CURATION
2020
PLUGGED-IN/TOF Art Festival 2020, (Online exhibition/happenings/lectures), Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, California
2019
Forging Territories: Queer Afro and Latinx Contemporary Art, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, California
Rick Castro: Fetish King, Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, California
2018
What if Utopia-Queer Biennial III, Venues: Navel, TOF Foundation, Last Projects, PDNE, et al, Los Angeles, California
PARAISOS/QUEER LA LATINX ART, LA LGBT Center, Los Angeles, California
2017
QUEER CALIFAS/LA QUEER LATINX ART, Plummer Park-Long Hall, West Hollywood, California
2016
CineArte/LGBTQ Latinx Exhibition, Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries, Los Angeles, California
Yooth Loss & Found Queer Biennial II, ACE Hotel, Industry Gallery, LACA, PAM, PRIDE, West Hollywood and Los Angeles, California
Transgressive Fall, Antebellum Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2014
LA, NY and Parts in Between-Queer Biennial I, Hotel Gaythering at Art Basel, Miami, Florida
LA, NY and Parts in Between-Queer Biennial I, Coagula Curatorial, TOFF, PDNE, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
2003
El Show de Gran Pop-luralidad, I-5 Gallery, Los Angeles, California
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Rubell Museum, Miami, Florida
Centro Cultural de Mexico, Santa Ana, California
Galeria del Gallo, Madrid, Spain
Galeria Sin Fronteras, Austin, Texas
Huntington Museum, UT Austin, Texas
Instituto Cultural de Baja California, Baja California, Mexico
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago, Illinois
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, California
Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Orange County Museum of Art, Laguna, California
Santa Barbara Caridad Archive, Santa Barbara, California
Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, California
The Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, California
University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
“We have to consciously study how to be tender with each other until it becomes a habit…”
–Audre Lorde