Los Angeles-based artist Erick Medel (b. 1992, Puebla, Mexico) creates intimate portraits of immigrant life using a sewing machine and thread much like one would use a paintbrush and oils. His canvas is deep blue heavyweight denim, which provides a dark ground that sets off the brightly colored threads that are his chosen medium.
The resulting work appears soft when viewed from a distance, but up close it vibrates with expressive visual energy.
Medel moved to the United States from Mexico as a teenager, and he positions his work in the context of the wider history of immigrant labor. Denim provides a sturdy substrate to hold the weight of the built-up threads, but it also comes with its own context. 
Medel elevates everyday moments large and small, his work conveys the joys as well as the hardships that together cohere into a vibrant portrait both personal and universal.

CV

Erick Medel
b. 1992, Puebla, Mexico
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA

Education

2018: MFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

Solo Exhibitions

2024 “Vidas”, Charlie James Gallery , Los Angeles, CA 
2024: Felix Art Fair, Charlie James Gallery , Los Angeles, CA
2023: “Algo Familiar”, Martha’s, Austin,TX
2023: “Mariachi”, Rusha & Co., Los Angeles, CA
2022: “With Us”, Ojiri Projects, London, UK
2022: ZONAMACO Fair, Seasons LA, Mexico City, Mexico
2021: “Hustling De Sol A Sol”, Martha’s Contemporary, Austin, TX
2020: “Americans Only Flags”, Liberal Arts Roxbury, Roxbury, NY
2018: “Anthology Vol. 22”,  Brown University Granoff Center, Providence, RI

Selected Group Exhibitions  

2024: “Crescent Heights”, Harper’s, Los Angeles, CA
2023: “Traditions”, Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim, CA
2023: “Cup Show 2”, Space Ten, Hawthorne, CA
2023: “Ephemeral Pleasures”, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2023: “Wet Hot Texas Summer”, Martha’s, Austin,TX
2023: “Back of Our Hands”, De Bour, Los Angeles, CA
2023: “Hand Over Hand: Textiles Today”, Mindy Solomon, Miami, FL
2023: Dallas Art Fair, Rusha & Co., Dallas, TX
2023: “Dirty Realism: Otra Noche en L.A.”, Veta Galeria, Madrid, Spain
2023: “Strings of Desire”, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles,CA
2022: “Unseen Threads”, Martha’s Contemporary, Austin, TX
2022: Dallas Art Fair, Martha’s Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2022: “Apple in the Dark”, Harkawik,  New York, NY
2021: “Breakfast in America”, Seasons LA, Los Angeles, CA
2021: “The Human Scale”, curated by Kristin Van Loon and Ryan Fontaine, 
2021: Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN 
2020: “Right Now”, Hair and Nails, Minneapolis, MN 
2020: “Still Here”, Martha’s Contemporary, Austin, TX
2020: SPRING/BREAK Art Fair/ Gas Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 
2020: “Custom”, Gas Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019: “Ambient Space of Dimension”, Sublimation / Stellar Projects, New York, NY
2019: “NADA House” (two person presentation w/ Baseera Khan), New Art Dealers Alliance,                    
2019: HOUSING Gallery, Governors Island, NY
2019: “Everyday, Everyday, Everyday, Everyday Freedoms”, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD 
2018: “Down with Desire”, LVL3 Gallery, Chicago,IL 
2018: “THUNDERFOXES”, CAMAYUHS Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2018: “RISD Photo” , ClampArt, New York,NY
2018: “RISD” MFA Thesis Show, Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI