Rubén Ortiz Torres

Though Rubén Ortiz-Torres’s interests and techniques have varied widely over the course of his career, they always reflect the environments that have shaped his identity. Ortiz-Torres has produced such diverse works as feature films, 3D videos, paintings, sculptures, kinetic installations, photo-collages, and performances, all having to do with his personal experience of the world. “Our identities are fluid and ever-changing,” he once said. “The human cognitive process is an unstable constellation of webs, fusions, and hybrids.” Though he was trained as a realist painter, he became known in the 1980s as a photographer and printmaker influenced by Mexico City’s punk scene. He attributes the more recent proliferation of cars in his work to experiences in Los Angeles and a childhood affinity for models.