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Hugo Crosthwaite

Hugo Crosthwaite

Hugo Crosthwaite (b.1971, Tijuana, BC, MX) lives and works in San Diego, CA and Rosarito, BC, MX. A dual American and Mexican citizen with family on both sides of the border, Crosthwaite spent his formative years in Rosarito, BC, MX, and graduated from San Diego State University in 1997 with a BA in Applied Arts.  

Crosthwaite’s provocative drawings and paintings portray the many complexities of the MX-US border. Through dynamic compositions, he exposes the layered architecture and culture of the border region. Each piece compels viewers to engage with the depth, nuance, and humanity of the subjects he portrays. Crosthwaite’s process combines abstraction with classically rendered imagery; each work becomes an enfoldment of personal vision in which reality, history, religion, and mythology collide as he explores the nature of human expression.

Crosthwaite was awarded First Prize in the 2019 Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition for his stop-motion animated video A Portrait of Berenice Sarmiento Chávez, and subsequently the portrait commission for Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, another stop-motion animation portrait that debuted at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., in 2021.

Biennials and Residencies include: Border Biennial / Bienal Fronteriza, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX; Resident Artist at Mana Contemporary, NJ; XIII Bienial de Cuenca, Cuenca, EC; Resident Artist at Mana Contemporary Miami in conjunction with the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; In Memoriam Los Angeles, co-presented by Museum of Social Justice and California Historical Society, The Getty Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, Los Angeles, CA, 2017; La Primera Bienal de Dibujo de las Americas “Rafael Cauduro” Tijuana 2006, Palacio de Cultura, Tijuana, MX; VII Bienal Monterrey FEMSA de Pintura, Escultura e Instalación, Centro de las Artes, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, MX; XII Bienal Rufino Tamayo, organized by Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Cuidad de México, DF, MX. Other awards include the 2021 San Diego Art Prize and the Grand Prize at the 2014 XI FEMSA Monterrey Biennial, MX.

Crosthwaite’s works are included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Morgan Library and Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA; San Diego Museum of Art, CA; National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA; Boca Raton Museum of Art, FL; University of Arkansas Art Gallery, Little Rock, AK; FEMSA Collection, Mexico City; CECUT/Centro Cultural Tijuana, Mexico; and private collections in the U.S. and around the world.

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