Allan Villavicencio

Allan Villavicencio, was born in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1987, where he now lives and works. 

He conceives the pictorial process as a form of metabolism in constant transformation, developed through painting and mixed-media assemblages. His practice challenges the everyday in order to generate new narratives of perception. This provides a pretext to seek the visible through unfolded perspectives and to interrogate the virtuality of the spaces we inhabit. By virtuality, Villavicencio refers to the imaginary visual scenarios that arise when we pay close attention to our surroundings — scenarios that may emerge in small cracks, hidden creases, subtle shadows, and so on.

Multidimensional in nature, his work spans painting, drawing, collage, three-dimensional structures, and installation. It unfolds at the intersection of perception theory, the architectural topologies of urban landscapes, and the relationships between clothing, bodies, and the objects inhabiting both private and public space. Villavicencio endows these elements with expansive and emotional qualities, creating what he calls “residual landscapes”. In this sense, his pieces reveal ecosystems of material, form, and texture that highlight how the fragmentary nature of each work contributes to the whole.

Villavicencio is currently a beneficiary of the National System of Art Creators (SNCA). He received the Honorary Distinction at the XVIII Rufino Tamayo Painting Biennial in 2018 (Museo Tamayo, Mexico City) and is a three-time recipient of the Mexican National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA).

He has completed several residencies, including Casa Nano (Tokyo, JP, 2024), Casa Wabi (Oaxaca, MX, 2021), and Cité des Arts (Paris, FR, 2019). His work has been exhibited in institutions across Mexico, including Museo Experimental El Eco, Museo Tamayo, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, and Museo de Arte de Sonora.

In recent years, Villavicencio has participated in exhibitions in Mexico, France, the USA, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Spain, Colombia, Peru, and Austria.

His work has been reviewed in Frieze, Artsy, Viewpoint Colour, La Tempestad, Crash Magazine, and Travesías, and forms part of the permanent collections of Jorge Pérez Related Group (Miami), Museo MATE (Lima), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes), Colección Arena (Madrid), and MACO Oaxaca (Oaxaca, MX).