Napoleón Aguilera

Lives and works in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Artist statement

Through a combination of methodologies drawn from architectural design, material experimentation, and collaboration with diverse craft practices, Napoleón Aguilera grounds his transdisciplinary practice in humor and craftsmanship. Drawings, plans, 3D models, and maquettes serve as process-based tools through which he gives material form to his ideas, employing techniques such as wood carving, metalwork, and lapidary work in basalt and obsidian. Drawn to a wide range of cultural phenomena, including science fiction, fashion, metaphysics, the criminal underworld, cockfighting, and Lowrider cars, Aguilera’s work articulates a distinctly local character while engaging strongly with mainstream culture. It is within this amalgamation that his practice introduces a humorous twist to reconfigure and reshape systems, allowing the eccentric and the irreverent to move through, coexist within, and mutate into new forms.

Artwork