Mario Ayala (b. 1991, Los Angeles, CA) references West Coast Americana to reimagine a contemporary landscape where diverse identities, observations, and material facts play equal roles. Turning forms and figures with airbrush acrylic, each painting pays homage to traditions and techniques with strong visual ties to California. His practice consistently references his home state’s rich histories in muralism, tattooing, commercial signage, and lowrider auto customization.

Ayala pays particular attention to the material culture of Latinx identity, championing the aesthetics and history of underground Chicano magazines. His creations live as collectively inspired documents that reflect issues, energies, and aesthetics alive in Mexican-American, Latinx, and Brown communities throughout the California region. Each sculpture, site-specific work, or creative collaboration embodies his vision to reposition the local and the global as interwoven phenomena in a world defined by multiplicity.