Robert Vargas is a contemporary artist known for his mixed-media portraits, murals and live events. Los Angeles native and visual artist, Vargas is a leading creative force in the revitalization of Downtown LA’s art scene. His paintings and drawings infuse classic genres of portraiture with an avant-garde explosivity that not only captures the visage and likeness of his subjects but seems to excavate the intimate aspects of their character. Vargas’ intensely provocative creative process has become as celebrated as his dynamic completed works, which have led to collaborations with GQ, Google Play, Lucasfilms, Disney, BMW Australia, Lexus, Vans and more.
Robert Vargas selects his subjects intuitively at his highly attended live-painting sessions, creating powerful and sublime representations of the human connection through his portraiture. His visual vocabulary pulls from life experience, a viscerally sensual approach to line and texture, and an almost mannerist choreography of abstraction and representation that combine to unforgettable effect in his portraits.
An alumnus of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, Vargas has showcased in galleries around the world and is in the permanent collection of the Autry Museum and Vida Museum in Sweden. In 2021 the City of Los Angeles honored Vargas with a proclamation, naming September 8th “Robert Vargas Day” every year in the City of L.A. In December of 2022, Vargas was honored with his own intersection by the LA City Council, naming First and State streets in Boyle Heights, “Robert Vargas Square”. Following widespread editorial coverage for his work, he has attracted the attention of Goldie Hawn, Johnny Depp, Kate Hudson, Motley Crew’s Nikki Sin and Snoop Dogg, all who have sat for Vargas while he has painted them live. Robert Vargas has also been making his mark with his public mural work both in Los Angeles and throughout the world, which he sees as a means to reach a wider audience and promote accessible art and community through the creative process. Continuing to shape the way his city’s history is written, he is currently working on his biggest project yet: a fourteen-story mural in Downtown L.A. that will rank as the largest mural in the world by a single artist, a Guinness World Record to be completed in late 2024. Robert Vargas was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate from ArtCenter College of Design.
