Herman Aguirre is a painter who received his BFA (2014) and MFA (2017) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 

 

He was one of eight individuals to be awarded a $50,000 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship for Performing and Visual Arts, which focuses exclusively on talented emerging artists. 

 

He is uses thick oil paint and various aspects of collage and sculpture to explore abstract and representational ideas regarding war, trauma, and loss. The language developed brings new texture to the emotional and graphic aspects of each image. The viewer is challenged to feel sympathy toward the fragility of human existence.

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Artist Statement:

"Whether in Chicago’s inner city or the towns of Mexico, the overabundance of violence becomes embedded in my community, here and across the border.

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Through construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction, I rework juxtapositions to cope with these realities and expose my true self: afraid anxious, angry, unapologetic, insecure, honest, paranoid, and sympathetic. The accumulation of mirrored versions forced me to question my identity: Who am I? Where do I stand? Where do we stand? Am I next or someone I love? How many women? How many children? Why? At what cost? This in turn led to expression that went beyond the material understanding. Ultimately, my spiritual healing."