Javier Carrillo

Javier Carrillo is a Chicano artist from Michoacán, Mexico, who immigrated to the US when he was seven. His work centers on lived experience, using scale, religious symbolism, and personal iconography to examine cultural identity, memory, and belonging. Carrillo’s paintings frequently portray close friends, family members, and moments drawn directly from his daily life, anchoring his practice in community and personal history.

Rooted in the neighborhoods of Midtown Los Angeles, his work transforms ordinary scenes into powerful narratives of resilience and survival. These images reflect the emotional weight carried by immigrant communities, particularly amid ongoing ICE raids and the constant fear of separation, detention, and displacement. The tension between home and instability is a recurring presence in his paintings, where moments of intimacy coexist with anxiety, vigilance, and uncertainty. Through this lens, Carrillo honors the strength required to exist, love, and build family under the threat of being taken away.

Many of his works pay tribute to the working class, including street vendors, laborers, and family members, emphasizing dignity, devotion, and perseverance in the face of systemic pressure. By elevating these figures at a monumental scale, Carrillo asserts their visibility and humanity, offering both resistance and remembrance. .

A former student of Dan McCleary’s Art Division in Los Angeles, Javier Carrillo now serves as the school’s Exhibitions and Operations Manager, and teaches fundamentals and advanced printmaking. He has exhibited in museums and galleries including the Bakersfield Museum of Art and The Mexican Consulate General of Los Angeles, among others. His work is part of the private collection of Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the USC Fisher Museum of Art, Georgia College & State University, and more.