Daniel Rios Rodriguez

Daniel Rios Rodriguez is a contemporary artist who creates semi-figurative paintings that are both intimate and exuberant, blending natural imagery with fantastical visions.

Biography of Daniel Rios Rodriguez

Daniel Rios Rodriguez was born in 1978 in Killeen, TX, USA. In 2005, he earned a BFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. The artist continued his education, and two years later, in 2007, he received an MFA from Yale School of Art, USA.

In 2013, Daniel Rios Rodriguez was honored with the prestigious Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award. In 2018, he was an Artist-in-Residence at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.

Daniel Rios Rodriguez's paintings have been showcased in many solo and group exhibitions. Recent solo shows include "Paint Work" at One River Gallery in Englewood, NJ (2013); "Controlled Burn" at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery in New York, NY (2017); "It was literally the wreck of jewels and the crash of gems…" with Kate Newby at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery in New York, NY (2018); "Bite the Tongue" at Kerlin Gallery in Dublin, Ireland (2018); "Another Fire" at Cooper Cole in Toronto, ON (2019); "Southwestern Gothic" at Feuilleton in Los Angeles, CA (2020); "Serpentine Dream" at Kerlin Gallery in Dublin, Ireland (2021), among others.

The artist has also taken part in numerous group exhibitions, including "Juventus" at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago, IL (2004); "Painting 101" at Sargent’s Daughters in New York, NY (2013); "A Terceira Mão / The Third Hand" at Galeria Fortes D’aloia & Gabriel in São Paulo, Brazil (2017); "Of A Well Sucked Apricot" at Tif Sigfrids in Los Angeles, CA (2017); "City Prince/sses" at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France (2019); "The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism, and the Cosmic Tree" at Camden Arts Centre in London, UK (2020), and many more.

Currently, Daniel Rios Rodriguez lives in San Antonio, Texas, where he continues to work. 

Daniel Rios Rodriguez's Art Style

Influenced by reflections on dreams, Daniel Rios Rodriguez's vibrant semi-figurative paintings blend natural imagery with imaginative vistas, offering insights into the artist's identity and personal journey. Textured layers of impasto paint adorn wooden panels, taking on unconventional shapes such as tilted rectangles or solar starbursts with jagged edges. These compositions often feature spontaneous frames constructed from frayed strips of rope, nails, or copper wire, infusing the pieces with a collage-like, sculptural quality.

Rios Rodriguez introduces us to a vivid realm of imagery drawn from his inherited and individual cultural identity as a Mexican-American. His artworks present a fresh perspective on time-honored themes, brought to life through an intriguing array of non-traditional materials that resonate with the unique Texan environment he hails from and hold a broader resonance.

Rios Rodriguez draws much of his subject matter from nature. In numerous paintings, he presents a subtle and abstracted rendition of his personal experiences, vivid vignettes enhanced by a cosmic color palette and daring decorative details. Other pieces channel the timeless genres of still life, landscape, and memento mori through the multifaceted perspective of American folk art. Paintings featuring birds, rivers, plants, and wildlife are adorned with dried wheat ears, fragments of rock, feathers, or seashells. This unconventional and unsettling approach to traditional European painting subjects, juxtaposed with organic remnants, infuses Rios Rodriguez's artworks with an almost talismanic quality.