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Miguel Reyes
Adjunct Associate Professor, Lecturer
Teaches In
Animation
Digital Media
Game and Entertainment Design
Education: 

1981-1984 Southwestern Community College, Chula Vista, CA
1984-1987 Otis/Parson (Otis College of Art and Design), Los Angeles, Ca

Bio/Affiliation: 

Miguel Angel Reyes was born September 29th, 1964, in Colima, Mexico. He immigrated to the United States in 1975. He has consistently been a prolific artist since graduating from Otis Parsons School of Design in 1987 with a BFA in Communication Arts. Miguel is a Los Angeles - based portrait and figurative painter, muralist, printmaker, and illustrator.  Miguel incorporates expressionist brushwork and a saturated palette in celebration of the classic Latin tradition. Miguel's accomplishments as a photographer inform the way he creates paintings and prints. When not working from life, Miguel begins by shooting his own photographs on the street, in clubs, in the studio, and elsewhere. Whether working from life or photos, his pieces always create an intimate connection between the subject and the viewer.

Awards/Honors: 
  • 2012 Self-Help Graphic Honoree
  • 2001 CSW Artist of the Year
  • 1998 Viva Arts Award
  • 1992 Vogue/Sotheby's Cecil Beaton Fashion Illustration Award
Professional Accomplishments/Exhibitions:  

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2019 “Dirty Duets,” Tom of Finland Foundation, Echo Park, CA
  • 2004 “Faces” Rio Hondo College, Whittier, CA “Suspicious” National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2001 “After Midnight,” Advocate Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1997-8 “Stars and other Heavenly Bodies,” Fundraiser for AHF, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1997 “Celestial Collages,” Max’s, Los Angeles, CA “Ecliptical Figures,” Beyond Baroque, Venice, CA
  • 1996 “Hidden Identities,” Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA
  • 1994 “Circle of Friends,” Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1993 “Ronda,” Plaza de la Raza, Lincoln Heights, LA, CA
  • 1992 “Moribundo,” Ventana Gallery, Silverlake, CA
  • 1989 “Psychosexuality," A Different Light Bookstore, Silverlake, CA


Murals and other Art-Related

  • 2019 “Family Tree” The Plaza Village, Downtown LA
  • 2016-2019 Contributing Photographer for Advocate.com
  • 2007 “Homombre,” Curator/Printing Collection 2 Self-Help Graphics, East Los Angeles, CA
  • 2005-2020 Figure Drawing Coordinator Tom of Finland Foundation
  • 2003 "3:00 am" for the Wall/Las Memorias project, Lincoln Park, LA, CA
  • 2001 “A Community of Angels,” Principal Artis, (City-wide project), Los Angeles, CA
  • “Absolute Chalk” Miami Beach and Pasadena, Principal Artist.
  • 1994-1995 "Amistades" Hollywood Fences Project (MTA)
  • 1992 ”Mar Eterno" Hollywood CRA


Museum/Public collections

  • Professional Printmaking Program by Library of Congress,
  • LACMA print collections
  • Laguna Art Museum
  • Watts Towers Arts Center
  • University of Austin, TX
  • Self-Help Graphics/East LA
  • Mexican Fine Arts Gallery Museum/Chicago
Publications:  
  • 2022 "Self Help Graphics at Fifty: Art, Collaboration and Politics."
  • 2022 “My Gay Eye: Sex Utopia”
  • 2020 “MY Gay Eye: Body Issues”
  • 2018 “My Gay Eye: Tom of Finland Foundation SPECIAL”
  • 2005 "Triumph for our Communities"
  • 2004 "Chicano Art for our Millennium"
  • 2002 "Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art" Bilingual Press
  • 2001 LA Times magazine, Blue/Aug.
  • 1999 "Portraits of Passion: SEX" John William
  • 1993 "Off the Wall" Los Angeles Times, Dec. 10 p. 10., Genre and Flaunt mag;
    • "Chicano and Latino Artists of Los Angeles" Alejandro Roses,
    • "Portfolio Artist," Saludos Hispanos magazine, Nov/Dec, p 72-75.
Clients/Employment History:  

Selected Clients

  • AltaMed Health Services (commissioned painting, 2012)
  • Vanity Mark (Illustrations for Packaging, 2012)
  • Falcon Theater/background painting (2012)
  • Concept Arts (Movie Poster Concepts, 2012)
  • Disney ("Confessions of a Shopaholic" website, 2011)
  • Painting used as decor in “Spread” (movie, 2009)
  • Painting used in AT&T Commercial
  • lllustrations for LA County Office of AIDS - "AIDS/Living Responsibly" campaign 2003
  • Savoy Jazz (Timeless Recording Series, 2002)
  • Dave Koz music video (1995)
  • Guess Jeans (in-house illustrations)
  • K-mart ( Jaclyn Smith collection)