Month: November 2025

Alejandro Macias felt a mix of nerves and pride as he introduced his work to actor and Chicano art collector Cheech Marin at a recent exhibition opening. Then Marin smiled and told him something unexpected: He’d dreamed about one of Macias’ paintings the night before.

“I’ll go ahead and take that as a good sign that I’m doing something correctly,” the University of Arizona associate professor said with a laugh.

Macias has been honored for doing a lot of things correctly since joining the School of Art faculty in 2019 as a painting and drawing teacher — including an Arizona Higher Education Award and multiple residencies, fellowships, grants and other awards. The New York Times even used his “American Mexican” painting as a supporting image to Pulitzer-winning opinion writer Carlos Lozada’s Oct. 20 essay, “You Caught Me. I’m Speaking Spanish.”

So far this year, Macias has presented work in six group exhibitions, including “Soy de Tejas: A Statewide Survey of Latinx Art” at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California. It features nearly 40 Chicano and Latinx artists from across Texas and the borderlands like Macias, who was raised near the Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas.

Macias is exhibiting three self-portrait paintings in the show, including the one Marin dreamed about, “Turning Point” — featuring a video loop of Macias’ own navigation across the desert terrain in Mesa, Arizona — along with “Man on Fire (III)” and “Ascension III.”

“I described my work to Cheech as an exploration of identity, assimilation and place,” Macias said, “particularly how the U.S.–Mexico border continues to shape the lives, bodies and narratives of those connected to it.”

Marin rose to fame in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s as part of the comedy duo Cheech & Chong, the television series “Nash Bridges” and the movie “Tin Cup,” filmed in Tubac and Tucson. He established “The Cheech” in 2022 with the Riverside Art Museum as the first North American facility dedicated exclusively to Mexican American and Chicano art — donating his collection of over 700 pieces.

“Meeting Cheech Marin was definitely surreal because I had an opportunity to speak about my work on such a personal level to a cultural icon,” Macias said. “Because he’s such a passionate art collector, he was deeply invested in what the artists had to say.”

Marin did a walk-through with 25 artists in early October, spending several minutes with each.

“Meeting (Macias and) so many talented artists in ‘Soy de Tejas’ was inspiring,” Marin said. “Each one offered a unique perspective on what it means to be connected to Texas and to identity. I was especially struck by the emotional honesty that runs through all of the works.”

That honesty is what sets Macias’ work apart, according to one of his former students, Vanessa Saavedra, a 2025 MFA graduate and now a School of Art adjunct instructor who took over Macias’ painting and drawing classes this semester while he’s on sabbatical.

“His work is visually pleasing, but the content can be challenging or uncomfortable for the viewer,” Saavedra said. “Alex isn’t afraid of criticism or rejection, and that fearlessness is incredibly inspiring. It’s powerful to see someone so grounded in their beliefs and so committed to expressing them for the greater good.”

Macias draws from his personal and regional histories in the borderlands to explore themes of assimilation and migration. His practice integrates traditional rendering, abstraction and multimedia approaches, using the human figure — often himself — as a central point of his works.

“These remain challenging times, but I do still believe that art has the power to foster dialogue, empathy, and understanding, even if the progress seems to be incremental,” Macias said. “My hope is that the work continues to offer a more nuanced, humanized view of the border experience, countering the harmful rhetoric and narratives that often dominate the mainstream. Having hope is the first step and I have plenty of it.” 

Local exhibition has university ties

He and Saavedra are part of a group exhibition at the Tucson Desert Art Museum, “Cruzando La Línea: Contemporary Art in the Borderlands,” through June 27, 2026, alongside School of Art Professor David Taylor and Professor Emeritus Alfred Quiroz.

“We all have a connection to the University of Arizona as either educators or former students, and it feels special to be part of such an esteemed group that has contributed to important local and national conversations about the tensions and complexity of border life,” Macias said. His work in the show stems from his 2024 solo exhibition, “Land of Wolves,” at New York City’s LatchKey Gallery, where he held “a mirror to Border Patrol agents of Mexican descent who have surveilled the borderlands” he said.

Taylor, who is also associate dean of Faculty Affairs for the College of Fine Arts and a 2008 Guggenheim Fellow in photography, has seen Macias’ influence in and out of the classroom.

“Since joining the School of Art, Alex has been an outstanding colleague and teacher,” Taylor said. “His studio practice, which is deeply reflective of both his first-person expertise and research program, complicates and expands upon Latinx representation. Working across painting, drawing and multimedia, his output is innovative while also acknowledging a legible set of influences.”

Saavedra, who grew up in Nogales, Sonora, also received her BFA from the School of Art. She was one of Macias’ first students when he started teaching at Arizona. He also mentored her in Saavedra’s MFA thesis year and hooded her at graduation in May, which Macias called “one of the most significant and important professional moments of my life.”

“Now that both Alex and the university have trusted me to cover his classes during his sabbatical, I can see things from the other side — perhaps how he once saw me — and that makes me even more appreciative of his patience with my process and trajectory,” she said.

Saavedra’s work in the Tucson Desert Art Museum exhibition highlights the complexities of migration and cultural intersection. With her paintings and drawings, she also gives voice to the silenced lives of women across Latin America.

“It’s incredibly fulfilling to see Vanessa contribute to our art community through her own practice,” Macias said. “Her work is meticulous, profound, and is already making an impact in such a short amount of time. … To see her grow in the span of six years makes you realize how important higher education can be.”

Teaching honor ‘means a lot’

Not only did Macias participate in the University of Arizona’s 2024-25 Research Leadership Institute cohort, but he also was honored in late September for his commitment to teaching and mentorship in receiving the Alberto “Tito” Rios Outstanding Literary/Arts Award at the Arizona Higher Education Awards in Tempe.

“Being recognized by peers and institutions that understand the intersection of art, education and community engagement means a lot to me,” Macias said. “I found the whole (Tempe) ceremony to be incredibly overwhelming and emotional because I shared space with educators who dedicated their lives to sharing knowledge with others.”

Through Nov. 29, he’s sharing another space at Tucson’s Etherton Gallery with School of Art Professor Lawrence Gipe and MFA alum Jim Waid. Macias’ solo show, “In the Cases,” includes a variety of drawings and mixed media works from 2017-2025, mostly figurative and on paper, that explore his ongoing interest on the border as “a physical and psychological construct,” Macias said. He added that presenting with Gipe and Waid “has been inspiring, and both artists bring decades of experience and visual language that have contributed to the Tucson community” and elsewhere.

During his sabbatical, Macias is focused on developing new work for more exhibitions, including projects that further integrate painting with video documentation and installation. He’s part of a group exhibition, “The Armor We Wear,” at 516 Arts in Albuquerque, New Mexico, curated by Olivia Amaya Ortiz, a 2018 School of Art BFA graduate. The show, which also includes 2018 BFA alumna Elizabeth Denneau, runs from Nov. 8 to Jan 31.

“My work will continue to explore themes of culture, migration and belonging,” Macias said, “but in a more intimate approach that respectfully documents the lives of people who contribute to their border communities.”

Meanwhile, his paintings will stay on display at the Cheech Center through Jan. 11. Macias’ work also was included in the first two iterations of “Soy de Tejas” in San Antonio and Fort Worth, Texas. He has high praise for the exhibition’s curator, Rigoberto Luna, whose exhibition explores migration, indigeneity, race, gender and mythmaking, while also celebrating the joy, resilience and traditions that define Latinx communities.

“Rigoberto has been building bridges across the coasts of the United States to recognize and uplift artists on a national level,” Macias said. “It’s honestly history in the making.”

Since 2019, Macias has presented his work in at least 65 selected exhibitions across the nation, including six with Luna as a curator. Macias participated in the 2024 Texas Biennial at Sawyer Yards in Houston, the 2024 Border Biennial at the El Paso Museum of Art and the 2023 Arizona Biennial at the Tucson Museum of Art. In 2023, he was the recipient of the Lehmann Emerging Artist award, which included a two-person exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum. He’s held solo shows at Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts in Lubbock, Texas; Presa House Gallery in San Antonio; Tucson Museum of Art; and LatchKey in New York.

Macias’ work is included in the permanent collections of the Newark Museum of Art, Phoenix Art Museum, El Paso Museum of Art, University of Arizona Museum of Art (which acquired his first “Man on Fire” painting), Tucson Museum of Art, Mexic-Arte Museum and the Brownsville (Texas) Museum of Art. He participated in notable residencies at Elizabeth Murray in Troy, New York; Vermont Studio Center; Chateau d’Orquevaux in France, Studios at MASS MoCA, Wassaic (N.Y.) Project, CALA Alliance in Phoenix and Uncool Artist in Brooklyn, New York.

“The accolades Alex’s work has received are a clear indication of its significance,” Taylor said. “It’s been a pleasure to see his art career flourish, and we are enormously fortunate to have his influence and mentorship in our program.” 

When Macias returns to the Arizona campus in spring 2026, he can’t wait “to bring these new experiences and perspectives back to the classroom … and to continue guiding students as they find their own voices and purpose as artists,” he said. And in the summer, he will be a workshop instructor in mixed media portraits at North Carolina’s prestigious Penland School of Craft.

“Teaching remains one of the most rewarding parts of my career,” Macias said. “My students’ energy and curiosity constantly reinvigorate my practice and desire to share everything I can.”

• Artist website: alexmaciasart.com
• Instagram account: @alex.macias.art