Napoleón Aguilera

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 car culture, 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.

Napoleón Aguilera (b. 1986, Guadalajara, Mexico) received a B.Arch from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in 2010. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at NADA Art Fair, Miami (2026); Escombro, Guadalajara (2026); Palma Galería, Guadalajara (2025); Estación Material Vol. 4, Guadalajara (2025); Arte Expuesto, Monterrey (2025); Salón ACME, Mexico City (2023); Proyecto CAIMAN, Guadalajara (2020). Recent group presentations include those at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC), Houston (2026); White Columns, New York (2026); Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (2026); Open Gallery, Long Beach (2026); Museo Raúl Anguiano (MURA), Guadalajara (2025); Gallery Bogart, Kansas City (2025); La Nao Galería, Mexico City (2025); 21c Museum, St. Louis (2024); Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Guadalajara (2024); HVW8 Gallery, Los Angeles (2024); Visions West Contemporary, Denver (2024), among other venues. He is a recipient of PECDA Jalisco grant (2025) and was selected for the Curated Artist Registry at White Columns, New York (2024).

His work is included in the collections of the 21c Museum, Louisville; the Servais Family Collection, Brussels; Antigone’s Tales Collection, Milan; and Alma Colectiva, Guadalajara.

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