Mexicali, B.C. and Calexico, CA
he/him
Luis is a curator, artist, and educator whose practice engages with language, art history, and the shifting social and political realities of the U.S.–Mexico border. He is co-founder of the MexiCali Biennial, a nonprofit dedicated to granting exposure to artists, places, and themes often overlooked in the contemporary arts of Southern California and Mexico. Hernandez has co-curated multi-venue MexiCali Biennial exhibitions including Cannibalism in the New World (2013), Calafia (2018–2020), and PARA/normal Borders (ongoing), a multi-year series exploring the combined regions of California and Mexico as a supernatural zone beyond what is considered “normal” or “natural.” This series will culminate in a major exhibition at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in 2027. In addition to the Biennial, Hernandez runs the independent art spaces Casa la línea arte contemporáneo in Calexico, CA, and its sister space Arista 1701 in Mexicali, B.C. He also teaches at San Diego State University Imperial Valley and directs the university’s Steppling Art Gallery, where he recently curated Más al Sur: Artists Working Along the U.S./Mexico Border, part of the 8th SUR:biennial (2025). As an artist, Hernandez has presented solo exhibitions at i21 and Tres Ojos (Mexicali), Artere-a (Guadalajara), and the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (San Bernardino, CA). His artwork has also been included in group exhibitions at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Ex Teresa Arte Actual (Mexico City), the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), and the Kunstverein (Munich). He holds an MFA from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and a BFA from California State University, Long Beach.
