Justin Favela (born 1986) is a mixed-media artist who is known for making large-scale installations and sculptures in the

piñata A piñata (, ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container filled ...

style or medium. His work references pop culture, art history, society, cultural commentary, and his own Guatemala-Mexican-American heritage that is rooted in growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada. His works often celebrate his identity as a queer person of color raised in the Southwest United States while challenging the ideas of Latinidad and cultural appropriation.

Early life

Justin was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America. He attended the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

where he received his BFA in Fine Arts with an emphasis on sculpture.

Career

Justin's work has been featured in museums and galleries across the United States and the United Kingdom. Justin is the recipient of the 2018 Alan Turing LGTBIQ Award in the category of International Artist. His podcast, Latinos Who Lunch, won the Best of Vegas 2018 award for Best Local Podcast and was ranked number 3 on Remezcla's list of Latinx Podcasts. The podcast is co-hosted with art historian and curator Dr. Emmanuel Ortega; the duo talk about pop culture, politics, and various topics around their intersecting identities of being queer Latinx men working in art and academia. Favela has had lectures at a number of universities to discuss what influences his art. He also hosts the Art People Podcast where he has conversations with artists in a variety of mediums and practices. In 2021, Favela was awarded the Joan Mitchell Fellowship from the

Joan Mitchell Foundation Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...

Works

''¡Provecho!'' (January 21, 2020- March 31, 2020) presented b
Now+There
at The Prudential Center, Boston MA. ''Piñatasthetic: Justin Favela, Josué Ramírez, and Giovanni Valderas'' (January 17, 2020- February 29, 2020) at th
Art League Houston
Houston TX. ''Together/Juntos'' (October 24, 2019 – December 14, 2019) a
Schneider Museum of Art
Ashland OR. ''Saludos Amigos'' ( October 4, 2019 – January 29, 2020)
Capital City Arts Initiative
at Carson City Courthouse Gallery, Carson City, NV. ''Puente Nuevo'' (September 14, 2019 – June 30, 2020) a
Amon Carter Center of American Art
''Regeneración'' (July 5, 2019- November 10, 2019) at

Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) is a nonprofit educational institution and museum founded in 1996 and located in Santa Cruz, California, at the downtown McPherson Center. Its mission is to ignite shared experiences and unexpected co ...

. ''Justin Favela: All You Can Eat'' (June 1, 2019- September 1, 2019) a
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.
''Sorry for the Mess'' ( April 12, 2019-August 3, 20190 at

Marjorie Barrick Museum The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art (MSM; formerly known as the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History) is a museum located on the main campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), established in 1967. The museum was originally insti ...

, Las Vegas NV. ''Justin Favela: Recuerdame'' (October 17, 2018- September 8, 2019) at

Sugar Hill Children's Museum Sugar Hill Children's Museum, officially the Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling, is a children's museum located in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Upper Manhattan. The building, which also includes a pre school and affordable housin ...

''Re/Presenting México: José María Velasco and the Politics of Paper'' (September 7, 2018 - December 19, 2018) at the Berman Museum in Pennsylvania features piñata versions of Velasco's nationalist pastoral paintings of Mexico. ''Pólvora'' (July 6, 2018 - September 22, 2018) at the Space538 gallery in Portland, Maine features fireworks scenes from various animated movies. ''Shonky: The Aesthetics of Awkwardness'' is a Hayward Touring Exhibition curated by Dr. John Walter going across the UK. It features giant nachos. ''Pachucos y Serenas'' (February 8, 2018 - August 18, 2018) at the

Museo de las Americas Museo de las Americas is a fine arts museum in Denver, Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as w ...

in Denver, Colorado featured a full-size lowrider piñata. ''The High Art of Riding Low'' (July 2018) at the

Petersen Automotive Museum The Petersen Automotive Museum is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. One of the world's largest automotive museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a nonprofit organization specializin ...

in Los Angeles, California featured a full-size lowrider piñata based on Gypsy Rose. ''Mi Tierra: Contemporary Artists Explore Place'' (February 19, 2017 - October 22, 2017) at the

Denver Art Museum The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With encyclopedic collections of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums between t ...

in Denver, Colorado featured ''Fridalandia'' which consisted of a massive piñata mural of a Jose Maria Valasco painting surrounding a piñata recreation of

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...

's patio garden from the Casa Azul. ''Piñatatopia'' (September 2017 - October 2017) at the P3Studio in the

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

in Las Vegas, Nevada asked visitors to draw what they thought of when they thought of Mexico while Justin recreated their drawings into piñatas. Gracias, Gracias, Thank You, Thank You (June 10, 2017 – July 9, 2017) at the Palos Verdes Art Center in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. ''Car Show'' (March 2015 - May 2015) at the Clark County Government Center featured ''La Sangre Nunca Muere'' which consisted of a piñata version of the red GMC truck (a reference to the standoff between Selena's murderer, Yolanda Saldivar, and the police) filled with purple, pink, and silver flowers. ''County Center'' (May 2011 - July 2011) at the Clark County Government Center was a solo show where Justin recreated works from Las Vegas City Center's art collection including ''Silver River'' by

Maya Lin Maya Ying Lin (born October 5, 1959) is an American designer and sculptor. In 1981, while an undergraduate at Yale University, she achieved national recognition when she won a national design competition for the planned Vietnam Veterans Memoria ...

, ''Typewriter Eraser, Scale X'' by

Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...

and

Coosje van Bruggen Coosje van Bruggen (June 6, 1942 – January 10, 2009) was a Dutch-born American sculptor, art historian, and critic.Kino, Carol. January 13, 2009 ''The New York Times''. She collaborated extensively with her husband, Claes Oldenburg. Biography ...

, and ''phrasisms'' by

Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, ...

References

External links

Justin Favela

Latinos Who Lunch

Art People Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Favela, Justin 1986 births Living people Mixed-media artists American artists of Mexican descent Queer artists University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Early life

Career

Works

Further reading

References

External links