About
Michael Vasquez (b. 1983, St. Petersburg, Florida) is an American painter known for large-scale figurative paintings and portraits that explore identity, masculinity, and the cultivation of community with what is at hand. His work centers on young men coming of age amid broken homes and underserved neighborhoods who, in search of acceptance and belonging, transform their friendships into brotherhoods and extended families, shaped and governed by their own streetwise codes and collective values.
Raised as an only child by a single mother, without a father figure, Vasquez was drawn to a subculture where stereotypical, often negative traits of masculinity were perpetuated and affirmed, and where a sense of, or an illusion of, identity, community, and wholeness existed. In his paintings he directs and narrates a cast of characters, drawn from friends and friends of friends, through neighborhood events, mischief, and the trials and tribulations that come with the territory: a slippery, yet pivotal and punctuating period when a sense of inner self and outward, often conflicting perceptions are formed. Through the painted portrait, the timeless visual presentation of identity, his sitters carry dueling feelings of pride and shame, toughness and vulnerability, softness and assertiveness.
Vasquez works from his own photographs and collages, which he translates into drawings enlarged onto canvas. The resulting larger-than-life compositions are energized by both the bravado of his subjects and the application of paint, in a language of mark making that reaches past likeness to capture emotion, attitude, and energy. Within them, color, clothing, hand signs, symbols, and tattoos encode identity, while maps, landmarks, signage, and native Florida foliage establish territory and place.
Vasquez received his BFA from New World School of the Arts in Miami in 2005. He has had solo museum exhibitions at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, and the MDC Museum of Art + Design, Miami, as well as a solo gallery in Portraiture Now: Staging the Self at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Reviewing that exhibition, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post critic Philip Kennicott called his paintings “the most memorable, complex and admirable works” in the show. Vasquez was a finalist in The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, and his work has been exhibited at institutions including the Saatchi Gallery, London; the Orlando Museum of Art; and The Ringling. It was also included in The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, which toured the Baltimore Museum of Art, Saint Louis Art Museum, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Cincinnati Art Museum, and Art Gallery of Ontario. His work has been reviewed in publications including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
His paintings are held in the collections of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, the Rubell Museum, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, the Microsoft Art Collection, the Montblanc Cutting Edge Art Collection, and The Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, among many others. He lives and works in Seminole, Florida.
Curriculum Vitae
Born 1983, St. Petersburg, Florida. Lives and works in Seminole, Florida.
Education
2005 BFA, New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
Solo Exhibitions
2024 c/o 2001, Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, St. Petersburg, FL
2017 We'll Weather the Storm Well, Under the Bridge Art Space, North Miami, FL
2015 Neighborhood Reclamation, MDC Museum of Art + Design, The Freedom Tower, Miami, FL
2014–15 Portraiture Now: Staging the Self (solo gallery), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
2014 One Deep, independently organized exhibition, Miami Design District, Miami, FL
2012 Rites of Passage, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2010 What Comes With the Territory, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN
2009 How The Land Lies, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2007 Authority Figures, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
Family Jewels, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 First Marks: Drawing in Relation, curated by Thomas Ray Willis and Rafael Domenech, UMSV Art Gallery, University of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale, NY
2024 Skyway 2024: A Contemporary Collaboration, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL
The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
A Better Tomorrow, Thinkspace Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2023 The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
Traditions, curated by Thinkspace Projects and Tlaloc Studios, MUZEO Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim, CA
SHINE 2023 Exhibition, Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL
It Was Always About You, curated by Dennis Scholl and Laura Guerrero, Oolite Arts, Miami, FL
It Is What It Is, Richard Beavers Gallery, New York, NY
2022 The BluPrnt, curated by Robert Chambers, Bridge Red, North Miami, FL
Our Primary Colors, Richard Beavers Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Shattered Glass, curated by Melahn Frierson and AJ Girard, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, The Moore Space, Miami, FL
Breakfast in America, Seasons LA, Los Angeles, CA
Beyond the Streets on Paper, Southampton Arts Center, Southampton, NY
The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Collection Focus: Our Beginnings Never Know Our Ends, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL
2020 Transitions and Transformations, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, FL
The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA
Powder Hounds, Patton-Malott Gallery, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO
2019 The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
My Kid Could Do That, ProjectArt, The Moore Building, Miami, FL
2018 Homeless, curated by Axel Void, Void Projects, Miami, FL
Group Show, curated by Matthew Chevallard and Daniel Berkowitz, The Office, Miami, FL
Street Dreams, Art Life Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2017 No Commission / The Dean Collection, curated by Swizz Beatz, Miami, FL
The Office, curated by Matthew Chevallard and Daniel Berkowitz, The Office, Miami, FL
Ciudad Magica, Fabien Castanier Gallery, Miami, FL
Red, White, & Beyond, Galerie des Bains, Geneva, Switzerland
2016 St. Moritz Art Masters 2016, Montblanc Cutting Edge Art Collection, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Florida Prize in Contemporary Art, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
Aesthetics and Values 2016, Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL
2015 No Commission / The Dean Collection, curated by Swizz Beatz, Miami, FL
100+ Degrees in the Shade, 3900 N. Miami Avenue, Miami, FL
Portraiture Now: Staging the Self, Americas Society, New York, NY; National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM
The Human Touch, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Alternative Contemporaneities: Temporary Autonomous Zones, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL
2014 Current State, curated by Chris Oh, Big Trouble in Little River, Miami, FL
International Friendship Exhibition, Primary, Miami, FL
Little Haiti Country Club, Little Haiti Country Club, Miami, FL
This Crazy Life, New Image Art, Los Angeles, CA
The Human Touch, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
2013 The Human Touch, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ
2012 Things Beyond Our Control, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2011 Vanishing Points: Paint and Paintings from the Debra and Dennis Scholl Collection, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL
Florida Contemporary 2011, Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL
Summer Blues, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
Merzbau-Now, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2010 New Work Miami 2010, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL
Boy, Oh Boy!, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2009 Franks-Suss Collection (Selected Works), Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Time + Temp, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL
CFC Charity Art Exhibition, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
SMALL, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2008 GEN-X: Post Boomers and the New South, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Pivot Points Part 2: New Mythologies, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL
2007 Circular Reasoning, curated by Dennis Scholl, Unit B Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2006 Partial Recall, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY
Metro Pictures, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL
2005 O, The Games We Play, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
Classified (BFA Exhibition), New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
Public Art and Commissions
2026 A Boundless Tomorrow, Orange County Innovation Lab, 21 canvas panels and integrated murals with an augmented reality experience (animation and sound), Orange County, FL
2025 Sandcastles with Father - Spa Beach, mural, St. Pete Pier 5th Anniversary, St. Petersburg, FL
2023 The Mangrove Refuge (The Vorasane Family and Friends; Gandy Beach circa 1980), mural, SHINE Mural Festival, St. Petersburg, FL
2020 Traz-Powell Stadium Hall of Fame murals, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Nike, Miami, FL
2019 Wynwood Walls 10th Anniversary mural, Miami, FL
2018–19 Interior paintings, The Carrie Meek Foundation, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places, Opa-locka, FL
2017 Mural, Murals in the Market Festival, Detroit, MI
2015 Fishing With Father - Let's Go Back, mural, SHINE Mural Festival, St. Petersburg, FL
2014 Community Art Wall, Hispanic Heritage Month Family Day, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
2010 Mural, Primary Flight, 29th Street and NW 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL
Grants, Awards, Honors, and Residencies
2025 Emergency Grant, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
2021 Proclamation, September 30 declared “Michael Vasquez Day,” City of North Miami, FL
2020 Miami-Dade Artists Support! (MÁS!) Grant Program
Visual Artist Relief Fund, Betancourt Latorre Foundation
Artist-in-Residence, Oolite Home + Away, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO
2019 Finalist, The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
2018 Artist-in-Residence, Vannucci Artist Residency, Umbria, Italy
2016 Selected Artist, Florida Prize in Contemporary Art, Orlando Museum of Art
2015 Swing/SPACE/Miami Award and Exhibition, MDC Museum of Art + Design, Miami, FL
Artist-in-Residence, YoungArts, Miami, FL
2013 Semifinalist, Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
2011 Alumni Hall of Fame Inductee, Miami Dade College, Miami, FL
2009 Semifinalist, Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Lectures, Panels, and Community Engagement
2025 Artist Talk, Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, St. Petersburg, FL
2024 Guest Juror, 36th Annual All-Student Juried Exhibition, Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, St. Petersburg, FL
Guest Artist Lecture, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA
Artist Gallery Talk, Skyway 2024, The Ringling, Sarasota, FL
2022 Artwork Donation, 50th Anniversary Benefit Auction, The Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY
2019 Panelist, Arts for Life! Artist Symposium, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, FL
Artist Talk for the National Portrait Gallery Board, Michael Vasquez Studio, Miami, FL
2017 Artist Talk, Locust Projects LAB: Locust Art Builders, Michael Vasquez Studio, Miami, FL
2016 Artist Talk, Aesthetics and Values, Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL
2015 Artist Talk, Americas Society and Council of the Americas, New York, NY
2014 Artist Talk, Meet the Artist Lecture Series, Portraiture Now: Staging the Self, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Special Guest Speaker, Young Ambassadors Program, Smithsonian Latino Center, Washington, D.C.
Master Class, YoungArts Week 2014, Miami, FL
Artist Talk, Art Roundtable, Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, FL
2010 John and Diane Marek Visiting Artist Lecture Series, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, TN
Artist Talk, AIM (Achievement, Independence, Motivation) Center, Chattanooga, TN
2007 Artist Talk, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
Artist Talk, Mattie Rhodes Center, Kansas City, MO
Selected Collections
The Arad Collection
Paul and Estelle Berg Collection
Richard and Carla Betts Collection
Chris Birchby / COOLA Collection
Hebru Brantley Collection
Matthew Chevallard Collection
The Dean Collection (Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys)
The Deighton Collection
Franks-Suss Collection
Tony Goldman / Goldman Properties Collection
Michael B. Jordan Collection
George Lindemann Collection
Marquez Art Projects / John Marquez Collection
Miami-Dade Art in Public Places
Microsoft Art Collection
Montblanc Cutting Edge Art Collection
Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami
The Nerman Family Collection
Matteo Novarese / SoF: Art Collection
NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale
Oolite Arts
Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs, Florida
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)
RBC Wealth Management
Evan and Stephanie Reed Collection
RETNA / Iron Eye Art Collection
Arthur Halsey Rice Collection
Rubell Museum / The Rubell Family Collection
Michael and Joan Salke Collection
Debra and Dennis Scholl Collection
Shalizi Music Group
Fredric Snitzer Collection
Benedikt and Lauren Taschen Collection
Selected Bibliography
Mike Maizels, “Drawing Things Together: First Marks at Mount Saint Vincent,” Whitehot Magazine, October 25, 2026
Tony Wong Palms, “Exploring All Five Skyway Museums,” Creative Pinellas, September 6, 2024
Gabrielle Lazor, “Why Are There So Many Murals in St. Petersburg? A Brief History,” Tampa Bay Times, June 28, 2024
Douglas Clifford, “Uplifting Art,” Tampa Bay Times, October 20, 2023, p. 1A
Maggie Duffy, “Guide to Shine Mural Festival in St. Petersburg,” Tampa Bay Times, October 11, 2023
Artburst Miami, “Four Decades of Oolite Artists Come Together for ‘It Was Always About You,’” Miami New Times, July 17, 2023
Connie Stewart, Eli Burke, Toya Northington, Lisa Hochtritt, Teaching Art with Dialogue: Critical Conversations in Art Education, Teachers College Press, July 2023
Michael Janofsky, “Museums Look Locally for Growth and, Sometimes, Survival,” The New York Times, April 30, 2023, p. 4F
Mary Carole McCauley, “Dionne Alexander Created Wigs for Hip-Hop Royalty,” The Baltimore Sun, April 6, 2023
Cara Ober, “All Eyez On Me: ‘The Culture’ at the Baltimore Museum of Art Celebrates 50 Years of Hip Hop,” BmoreArt, April 4, 2023
Asma Naeem, Gamynne Guillotte, Hannah Klemm, Andrea Purnell, The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, exhibition catalog, Baltimore Museum of Art and Saint Louis Art Museum, 2023, p. 295
Taylor Estape, “Oolite Arts’ Acquisitions Program Keeps Miami Artists Working,” Miami New Times, August 24, 2020
Andrew Travers, “Anderson Ranch Hosts 14 Artists from Miami’s Oolite Arts,” The Aspen Times, March 2, 2020
Erica Robbie, “Anderson Ranch Welcomes 14 Miami Artists for Unique Residency in Aspen,” Aspen Daily News, January 31, 2020
Jacob Urist, “7 Young Collectors on First Love and Favorites,” Cultured, April 19, 2019
Keith Estiler, “Best Art Drops: Michael Vasquez x Print Them All Lithograph,” Hypebeast, February 20, 2019
Caroline Goldstein, “Our Guide to 15 of the Top Celebrity Art Collectors (and the Art They Love),” ARTnews, February 14, 2019
Monica Uszerowicz, “The Art of the Flood: A Myth in Ten Parts,” Affidavit, December 3, 2018
Anne Tschida, “Storm Season Approaches,” Miami Herald, May 7, 2017, p. 6M
Paulette Beete, “Art Talk with Michael Vasquez,” National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works Blog, October 5, 2016
Valeriya Safronova, “Swizz Beatz’s Music Studio Is Basically an Art Gallery,” The New York Times, September 29, 2016
Matthew J. Palm, “Modern Musings: Artists Tackle the Issues of the Day in OMA’s Florida Prize Exhibition,” Orlando Sentinel, July 13, 2016
Hansen Mulford, 2016 Florida Prize in Contemporary Art, exhibition catalog, Orlando Museum of Art, pp. 46–49
Brett Sokol, “Inside Art: A New Art Scene,” The New York Times, November 27, 2015, p. C24
Lennie Bennett, “Mural Magic,” Tampa Bay Times, October 25, 2015, p. L1
Martha Schwendener, “Review: ‘Portraiture Now,’ a Group Show of Latino Artists,” The New York Times, August 21, 2015, p. C20
Kelly Carrion, “Latino Identity Through Self-Portraits: Fascinating New Exhibit,” NBC News, July 16, 2015
Liz Tracy, “Artist Michael Vasquez Brings Humanity to the Underrepresented,” Miami New Times, June 23, 2015
Anne Tschida, “Art Journeys Through the Decaying Worlds of Miami and Cuba,” Knight Blog, Knight Foundation, June 22, 2015
Dejha Carrington, “Michael Vasquez: Neighborhood Reclamation,” Neighbors, Miami Design District, May 29, 2015
Galena Mosovich, “Three Artists Begin Visual Arts Residencies at Miami’s YoungArts,” Miami Herald, April 17, 2015
Terri Weissman, “Portraiture Now: Staging the Self,” ArtNexus, No. 96, March–May 2015
John Coppola, “National Portrait Gallery Exhibition Focuses on Latino Portraiture,” Miami Herald, December 12, 2014
Anne Tschida and Jane Wooldridge, “For Art Aficionados, a New Wynwood Emerges to the North,” Miami Herald, November 29, 2014
Beth Py-Lieberman, “Six Artists in Search of Themselves, at the Smithsonian,” Smithsonian Magazine, September 19, 2014
Philip Kennicott, “National Portrait Gallery Exhibit Features an Exploration of Latin Self-Identity,” The Washington Post, September 18, 2014
Kat Bein, “Little Haiti Country Club Brings Community to Growing Art Scene, Won’t Last Forever,” Miami New Times, August 19, 2014
“Gallery: ‘Portraiture Now’ at the NPG Washington,” Apollo Magazine, August 22, 2014
Jenny Che, “Self-Portraits Through Other Faces,” The Wall Street Journal, August 2–3, 2014, p. C14
Ricardo Mor, “Little Haiti Country Club Highlights Neighborhood Artists,” Miami Herald, August 1, 2014
Carolina Miranda, “Art Talk: What Does Latino Look Like?,” ARTnews, Summer 2014, p. 26
Heike Dempster, “A Masculinity Essay on Canvas,” Rooms Magazine, Issue 14
Janet Batet, “Michael Vasquez: Ritos de iniciación y otros fantasmas urbanos,” El Nuevo Herald, March 12, 2012
Anne Tschida, “A New Passage in the Portrait of a Young Artist,” Knight Arts, March 6, 2012
Diane Vadino, “Gang Star,” Nylon Guys, March 2012, p. 52
Esther Park, “Swiss Hit,” The Red Bulletin, December 2011, p. 62
Brett Sokol, “Brush Work,” Ocean Drive, October 2011, p. 90
Denise Stewart-Sanabria, “Rose Freymuth-Frazier + Michael Vasquez, Chattanooga, TN,” Art Papers, January/February 2011, p. 44
Michael Crumb, “Figuring It Out, and In,” The Pulse, Chattanooga, September 30, 2010
Adriana Herrera, “Ritos de masculinidad en el arte contemporáneo,” El Nuevo Herald, August 22, 2010
John Hood, “The Miami 8,” The Sun Post, Miami, December 3, 2009, p. 13
Jim Wyss, “Gallery View,” Miami Herald, November 2009, p. 16G
Beth Dunlop, “Designed for Art,” Metropolitan Home, October 2008, pp. 141, 145
Monica Khemsurov, “The Hamptons: Beach Scene,” Art + Auction, July 2008, p. 33
Adriana Herrera, “Ritos narrados en la colección del MOCA,” El Nuevo Herald, June 22, 2008, p. 1D
Brett Sokol, “All’s Fair in Art and War,” Ocean Drive, May 2008, p. 124
Emma Trelles, “What I Saw at Art Basel,” Sun-Sentinel, December 7, 2007
Jane Wooldridge, Daniel Chang and Fabiola Santiago, “Some Complain of Art Basel’s High Prices,” Miami Herald, December 6, 2007
Michael Vazquez, “150 Things We Love: Signs of Life,” URB Magazine, November/December 2007, p. 79
Alex Schubert, “Aggressive Brushstrokes Give Gang Portraits Power,” The Kansas City Star, November 17, 2007
Ashley Brown, “True Gangsta,” The Pitch, Kansas City, October 4–10, 2007, pp. 10–11
Chris Cook, Michael Vasquez: Authority Figures, exhibition brochure essay, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, October 2007
Kelly Crow, “Small Collectors,” The Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2007, p. W1
Omar Sommereyns, “Homeboy,” 944 Miami, July 2007, pp. 55–56
Brett Sokol, “The Art of Winemaking,” Ocean Drive, June 2007, p. 104
Carlos Suarez De Jesus, “Darkness at Gloom,” Miami New Times, March 1, 2007
Ken Johnson, “Partial Recall,” Art in Review, The New York Times, August 18, 2006, p. E27
Emma Trelles, “Urban Sprawl,” Sun-Sentinel, July 30, 2006
Adriana Herrera, “Metro Pictures II,” El Nuevo Herald, July 2, 2006, p. 6D
Elisa Turner, “Metro Pictures,” Miami Herald, May 14, 2006, p. 3M
Tibor Fischer, “Hot Spot,” The Guardian, December 8, 2005
Enrique Fernandez and Fabiola Santiago, “Miami Makes the Scene,” Miami Herald, November 30, 2005, p. 1A
Tom Austin, “Wynwood Diary,” Miami Street Weekly, July 9, 2004, p. 23
Omar Sommereyns, “Teen Angst Redux,” Miami Street Weekly, May 14, 2004, p. 54
Alfredo Triff, “Local Views for Basel,” Miami New Times, December 4, 2003, p. 49
Humberto Guida, “Galleries Galore,” Miami New Times, November 27, 2003