Artists

Raùl De Nieves

Raùl De Nieves (b. 1983, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, US. He is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, and musician whose multifaceted practice ranges from stained-glass-style narrative paintings to animated performances to densely adorned figurative sculptures encrusted with bangles, beads, bells, sequins, and other homespun materials. His opulent, joyful sculptures reference traditional costumes in Mexican culture and modes of dress from drag, ballroom, and queer club cultures, while also reminding religious professional attire and the outfits worn by circus performers. His practice shares a distinctive visual language that draws from Mexican craft traditions, religious iconography, mythology, and folktales to explore the transformational possibilities of adornment and the mutability of sexuality and identity.