Esteban Cabeza de Baca (b. 1985 in San Ysidro, CA, lives in Queens, NY) was raised in San Ysidro, California—north of the Mexico–United States border. His parents were union organizers and activists involved in the Brown Berets, as well as the Chicano, American Indian, and Black Panther movements. Justice for undocumented migrants and a keen awareness of the history of colonialism in the United States informed the artist’s upbringing and have become central subjects in his multifaceted practice. Working primarily in painting, Cabeza de Baca approaches his work with the aim of bringing awareness to marginalized people and places. The landscapes he depicts are painted from nature, infused with layers of memory and time. Cabeza de Baca is of Mexican and Indigenous descent; his paintings honor these origins in his use of ancient symbols and motifs, as well as through his use of traditional materials and techniques.
The artist’s first institutional solo exhibition in California, Esteban Cabeza de Baca: Remembering the Future, opens at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art on February 22, 2025. Recent solo exhibitions include those held at Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO (2024); Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, NY (2023); The Momentary Museum, Bentonville, AK, and Gaa Gallery, Provincetown, MA. His work is included in the collections of El Espacio 23, Miami, FL; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; The Bunker Artspace, Palm Beach, FL and Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA.
Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always
Curated by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ
February 1–December 21, 2025
Esteban Cabeza de Baca: Remembering the Future
San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA
February 22–June 22, 2025