Biography

Born

San Antonio, Texas 1983

Education

University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, M.F.A
California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, B.F.A.

Exhibitions (Selected)

2026
Mission el Desierto, Raza Cosmica Film Festival (forthcoming)

2021
Seguir Al Polvo | Follow The Dust, Art At a Time Like This (online)

2019
Segundo Encuentro Internacional de Objetos y Muros
Tlaxcala 3, Mexico City, MX; Institute for Endotic Research, Berlin, DE

2018
Rituales del Caos, Casa Lu, Mexico City, MX

2014
DumbSun (solo), SME Visual Arts Gallery, University of California San Diego, CA
Festival del Bosque Germinal, Casa del Lago, Mexico City, MX
Crater, Alternativa Once Galería, Monterrey, MX
Elective Affinities, University Art Gallery, University of California San Diego, CA (catalog)

2013
Para No Salir del Laberinto, Lugar a Dudas, Cali CO
(included: Labyrinth How a Community Defines Itself)
Stop and Go (solo), University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA

2012
A Fist Full of Air (solo), University California San Diego, San Diego, CA
SOMA Summer 2012, Mexico City MX (catalog)

2010
Abandoned Mystery of the Conjunction (solo), Capitol Studios Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2011
8/29/70, Vincent Price Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Chasing Shadows The Onion, Los Angeles, CA

2009
Love it or leave it, 111 Minna, San Francisco, CA

2008
Conventions and Attitudes, Exchange Rate, Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY
Just how does a patriot act: A response to US policy at home and abroad, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA (catalog)
Audacity of Desperation, Sea and Space Explorations, Los Angeles, CA Urbana Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, IL

2007
Deconstructed Reality (solo), Lime Gallery, CalArts, Valencia CA
ID 517 Exhibtion, D301 Gallery, Cal Arts Valencia CA

Bibliography

Bolívar, Clara. “El muro como objeto desde perspectivas latinoamericanas.” Borders in Globalization Review, 2022.
“Seguir al Polvo.” Chiquilla Te Quiero, 2021.
“Seguir al Polvo.” Artishock Revista, 2021.
Bolívar, Clara. Relatoría: 2do Encuentro Internacional de Objetos y Muros, 2020.
Kraus, Chris. Social Practices. Semiotext(e), 2018.
Festival del Bosque Germinal Catalogue, Casa del Lago, 2015.
Sensitive Boys, Issue 2: “The Cult of Crying.” Printed Matter LA Art Book Fair, 2014.
SOMA Summer Open Studios, curated by Szu-Han Ho, 2012.
Cheh, Carol. “Chasing Shadows.” Another Righteous Transfer, December 11, 2010.
Art Monster Drawing Rally Catalogue, 2008.
Just How Does a Patriot Act? Exhibition Catalogue, 2008.
“Human Nature vs Technology.” Onestar Press, 2007.

Grants and Awards

2014 UCIRA Grant, University of California, San Diego
2013 Russell Grant, University of California, San Diego
2012 UC MEXUS Grant, University of California, San Diego

Panels, Seminars, Workshops, and Conferences

2021 The Global Cener for Advanced Sudies LatinoAmerica, Zoom
2012 SOMA Summer 2012, Mexico City
2008 Artist lecture at Self-Help Graphics, East Los Angeles, CA
2008 Monster Drawing Rally, Outpost for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

Biography

Tomás Villalobos Moreno (b. 1983, San Antonio, Texas) is a multidisciplinary artist working across installation, sculpture, sound, drawing, video, and performance. His father was a jazz musician, composer, and Chicano rights activist who led the San Antonio chapter of Academia de la Nueva La Raza founded by Tomás Atencio in Dixon, New Mexico. His mother grew up in Japan and Thailand during the postwar period, her father having served as a Japanese Language Officer during the Occupation of WWII.

These two inheritances converged in a practice built on recomposing what official histories leave out, one rooted in activism and sonic practice, the other in the politics of language. His practice recomposes archival fragments into spatial and material forms, examining how histories persist through sound, language, and collective memory. His installations create environments where audiences encounter history through movement, proximity, and duration rather than a fixed narrative.

Moreno earned his BFA from CalArts and MFA from UC San Diego. He was a SOMA Summer 2012 resident in Mexico City. His work has been exhibited internationally at Casa del Lago Mexico City, Lugar a Dudas, Cali Colombia, and the Vincent Price Museum, Los Angeles. His writings have been published by Onestar Press and Festina Publicaciones. He is the recipient of UCIRA and UC MEXUS awards.