Statement
Israel Campos lives and works in South Central Los Angeles. He works with painting, print media, digital media, and artist books to explore how historical events are interconnected and reverberate into the present. He is influenced by street murals, Mesoamerican Art and oral folklore, reflecting his upbringing as a second-generation immigrant born and raised in South Central L.A. from parents born in rural Mexico. His bright palette, surreal environments, and representations of the human form draw from the legacy of pre-Columbian Art and examines the post-colonial legacy of the Americas.
Campos earned his BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2011 and his MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2015. His work is in the permanent collections of the Kohler Art Library in Madison, Wisconsin, the Oakland Museum of California, and the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkley. He has exhibited in venues across the country including the Oakland Museum of California, Tiger Strikes Asteroid in Greenville, South Carolina, and 2nd Story in Lexington, Kentucky.
Campos is Assistant Professor of Printmaking at Loyola Marymount University and is on the Board of Directors for the California Society of Printmakers. He also runs and operates Chayote Press, a printmaking studio based in the Pico Union neighborhood of Los Angeles.
CV
EDUCATION
2015 MFA, Studio Art (Printmaking), University of Wisconsin, Madison
2011 BA, Art and Mathematics, University of California, Santa Cruz
EXHIBITION RECORD
SOLO
2026 Echoes, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2025 Scorched Landscapes, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Greenville, SC
2024 Cleansing of the Sentinels, 2nd Story, Lexington, KY
2018 Our Lady of Angels, Digital Research Center, University of California, Santa Cruz
2015 Gloria, Art Lofts Gallery, Madison, WI
2014 Ordinarily Extraordinary, UW Humanities Gallery, Madison, WI
2011 Visions of the Holy Cross, Cowel Dizikes Art Cases, Santa Cruz, CA
SELECTED GROUP
2025 Unrest, Low Hum Studio, East Los Angeles, CA
2025 Bookness, Kala Art Institute and the Codex Foundation, Berkeley, CA
2025 Crossings, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA
2025 America (Soy Yo!), Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2025 Human, ACCI Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
2024 Each One Teach One, Stay Gallery, Downey, CA
2024 The Eastside Exhibition, South Gate Museum and Art Gallery, South Gate, CA
2024 Tierra y Libertad, Wright Museum, Beloit WI
2024 Synthesis, Barnsdall Junior Arts Center Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Point of Origin, Institute of the Arts and Science, Santa Cruz, CA
2024 Nexus, Gallery Marzen, Madison, WI
2024 Ritual, Angel City Brewery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Content 2023, The Artery Gallery, Davis, CA
2023 Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquias Montoya, The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
2023 Metamorphosis, The 3110 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 28th Parkside National Print Exhibition, UW-Parkside Fine Arts Gallery, Kenosha, WI
2022 My Neighborhood/Mi Barrio, South Gate Museum and Art Gallery, South Gate, CA
2022 Mark of Empowerment, Emily Davis Gallery, Akron, OH
2022 Reclaiming Identity, Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI
2022 Wild Life, Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, CA
2022 Burnt Water, Edgewood College Gallery, Madison, WI
2022 Our Shared Future, Union South Gallery 1308, Madison, WI
2022 Re•Vision!, Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI
2021 International Mokuhanga Conference, Nara Kasugano International Forum, Nara, Japan
2021 Searching for Meaning, Gallery Round One, Point Reyes Station, CA
2021 CONTENT, The Artery Gallery, Davis, CA
2021 West/Midwest, Edgewood College Gallery, Madison, WI
2019 Devil’s Dictionary: Traveling Art Show, Gallery 224, Port Washington, WI
2018 Response, Art Helix Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Día de Los Muertos Art Show, The City of Baldwin Park Arts & Recreation Center, Baldwin Park, CA
2018 Fresh Vision: Locality & Juncture, Juanita Lowe Art Gallery, Imperial, CA
2017 Response, ArtHelix Gallery, Brooklyn,NY
2017 The Fold. Double Unfolding, 3rd International project of graphical interaction,
Proyecto ACE, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Liege, Belgium
Collectif “lmpression(s)” Liege, Belgium
Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada
Aarhus Kunstakademi, Denmark
University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Universidade de Porto, Portugal
Academy of Fine Arts of NoviSad, Serbia
2016 Criminal, Overture Center for the Arts Gallery I, Madison, WI
2016 Hot off the Press, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia
2014 Just the Tip, Art Lofts Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Madison
RECOGNITIONS & AWARDS
2023 Curator’s Choice Award, Content 2, The Artery Gallery, Davis, CA
2022 gener8tor Art Grant, gener8tor, Madison, WI
2022 Juror’s Choice Award, eMerge, California Society of Printmakers
2021 BrainMind Residency, Hbomberguy Studios
2021 Juror’s Choice Award, Traces of Print Day in May, printdayinmay.com
2018 Digital Arts Research Center Residency, University of California, Santa Cruz
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Archives and Special Collections, University of California, Davis
Bainbridge Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkley
Department of Special Research Collections, University of California, Santa Barbara
Digital Arts Research Center, University of California, Santa Cruz
dx5 – Digital & Graphic Art Research Center, Universidad de Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain
Koehler Art Library, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Phoenix Art Museum Library, Phoenix, AZ
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
University Library, Special Collections & Archives, University of California, Santa Cruz
Wright Museum of Art, Beloit, WI
WORKSHOPS & LECTURES
2025 The Art of Advocacy, LMU Latine Heritage Showcase, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Neo-Chicanx Manifesto,Lecture, University of California, Santa Cruz
2024 Neo-Chicanx Manifesto,Lecture, Laney College, Oakland, CA
2024 Artist Talk,Lecture, Sherman Phoenix Marketplace, Milwaukee, WI
2024 Cleaning of the Sentinels,Lecture, 2nd Story, Lexington, KY
2023 Religious Syncretism,Lecture, Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI
2022 Mexica Realism,Lecture, Sherman Phoenix Marketplace, Milwaukee, WI
2022 Prophetic History of California,Lecture,Edgewood College, Madison, WI
2020 Visual Vocabulary of Mesoamerica,Lecture, University of California, Santa Cruz
2018 Digital Chine-Colle,Workshop, University of California, Santa Cruz
PORTFOLIO EXCHANGE
2024 Heliocentric, Curator: Lisa Wicka, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
2024 Point of Origin, Curators: Jimin Lee & Bridget Henry, University of California, Santa Cruz
2022 Points of Departure III, Curators: Barry Carlsen & Andy Rubin, University of Wisconsin, Madison
2021 Extraction, Curator: Karen Gallagher Iverson, California Society of Printmakers
2021 eMerge, Curator: Erica Barajas, California Society of Printmakers
2020 The Devil’s Dictionary, Curator: Barry Carlsen, Vox Pox
2016 Criminal, Curators: Ryan Cain & Luke Johnson, University of Wisconsin, Madison
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
2025 – Present, Assistant Professor of Printmaking
Barnsdall Arts Center, Los Angeles, CA
2024 - Present, Art Instructor
Chayote Press, Los Angeles, CA
2021 – Present, Master Printmaker
Los Angeles Pacific College, Los Angeles, CA
2015 – 2025, Part-Time Faculty, Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA
2018, Faculty Intern, Los Angeles, CA
Long Beach City College, Long Beach, CA
2017, Faculty Intern
University of Wisconsin, Madison
2014 – 2015, Teaching Assistant [Instructor of Record]
RESEACH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
Art of Mesoamerica; codices, murals, and clay sculptures
Pre-Colombian history of the Americas
Mexican folk Catholicism and its amalgamation with pre-Colombian beliefs
Indigenous land stewardship and the impact of climate change
Print media and the multiple
Digital art and print installations
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
California Society of Printmakers, San Francisco, C
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Chayote Press, Owner and Master Printmaker
Languages
Spanish: Native