Based in Chicago, Mexican-American painter David Lozano has crafted a practice steeped in heritage and identity. During his formative years, Lozano worked as a graphic designer and at a sign company in his hometown of Houston, a foundation of succinct communication that would inform his semiotic artmaking. His early works explored erotic imagery with queer tropes or “signs.” Although he wasn’t fully aware of it at the time, an aesthetic related to Lozano’s heritage through color palettes, mural work he did in Houston and celebratory graphic forms found in Mexican crafts such as Oaxacan wood carvings or decorated skulls (Calevaras), fortified his identity as an artist. This influence is exemplified in the physicality of his series Madera Picado, employing the papel picado method of Mexican paper cutting, typically in bright colorful banner displays. His large laser cut pieces are populated with an undulating play of color, texture, and patterns to formalize or at times, challenge a composition while expressing individualistic freedom, breaking from the norms of numerative paper cutting through calculated craft-making. Currently, Lozano is responding to protests and witnessing any kind of show of empathy or selfless gestures. Themes of family, brothers and sisters define meaning in his work in a time when his sexual orientation and heritage, “are both an equal threat in the current social climate.” Lozano has a BFA from University of Houston and an MFA from the University of Illinois in Chicago. Lozano’s exhibition’s include: the Blaffer Gallery in Houston; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL; Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL; Kinsey Institute Gallery, Bloomington, IN; Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; Art Miami, Miami, FL; among many group exhibitions Lozano was a prominent artist in the show Hangin’ Together curated by Kerry James Marshall at Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. He has participated in Joan Mitchell Center artists residency in New Orleans, LA. He has received numerous grants including the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors award and has been reviewed in publications such as the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times and the L.A. Times. Lozano is currently an adjunct associate professor at the School of the Art Institute.