Larry Madrigal: The Poetry of Urban Everyday Life

Larry Madrigal, born in 1986 in Los Angeles, is a Mexican-American painter who expresses himself through the canvas to navigate between reality and fiction. Growing up, he quickly immersed himself in the world of drawing, finding in this art a way to reveal the hidden mysteries of existence.

In the late 90s, Larry and his family moved to Arizona, a change of scenery that had a profound impact on him. From childhood, drawing became his refuge and his tool to explore the world. As a teenager, he ventured into graffiti, a form of expression that allowed him to see things from a different angle, always driven by the desire to reveal the invisible between the real and the imaginary.

It was during his university studies that Larry Madrigal decided to become an artist in his own right, combining artistic practice and cognitive reflection. He thus obtained a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Fine Arts from Arizona State University in Tempe. His quest for a unique artistic language led him to specialize in urban figurative portraits and intimate scenes of everyday life. He is also interested in different ways of life, diverse cultures and anthropology.

The Art of Contemporary Life

Madrigal's works oscillate between chaos and order, with a formal freedom that borders on the ephemeral, the theatrical and the dramatic. His empathy for human behavior leads him to explore themes such as family, relationships, responsibilities and routines. He immerses himself in daily tasks and transcribes them with a traditional sensitivity, but with a curious look at contemporary life.

Larry Madrigal has exhibited his work in prestigious venues such as the Phoenix Art Museum, the Tucson Art Museum, and the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art. Most recently, his exhibition “When You Waked Up the Buffalo” at the Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles made a strong impression. He has also received major honors such as the AXA XL Art Prize in 2020 and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Fellowship in 2017, 2018, and 2020.