RAFAEL CARDENAS | CV   (b.1971, Mexico)
info.rafa.la@gmail.com |   rafa.LA |   323.854.6178

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019    Landscapes and Land Dwellers, La Plaza De Cultura y Artes
2018    Backyard Tableaux, Vincent Price Art Museum
2017    From the Holocene, Pop Up Gallery, Chinatown, CA
2016    MAS ACA, Espacio 1839, Boyle Heights, CA
2016   Anonymous, Los Angeles Metro Stations, Currently on rotation
2014    Because LA, Homegirl Cafe, Los Angeles, CA
2014    Regalos y Recuerdos, Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
2011    Boldly Boyle Heights, Primera Taza Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010   In Perpetuum, Eastside Luv, Boyle Heights, CA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022 Getty 25 Celebrates Lincoln Heights, East LA, Plaza De La Raza
2021-22 Golden Hour: California Photography from LACMA (Touring Show)
2020 Shelter in Place, Tenderloin Museum, San Francisco, CA
2019 We Rise LA, Pop-Up, DTLA
2017    Dia De Los Muertos, A Cultural Legacy, Past, Present and Future, Self Help Graphics & Art, PST LA/LA, Los Angeles, CA
2017    Big LA Portrait Gallery, Grand Park, Los Angeles, CA
2017    Los Four Meets Los 40, La Bodega Gallery, San Diego, CA
2017   Tastemakers & Earthshakers: Notes From Los Angeles Youth Culture, 1943-2016, Vincent Price Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
2016   Public Artist, Sonia Romero with Photos by Rafael Cardenas, Avenue 50, Los Angeles CA
2015    Round About Now, Avenue 50 Studio at LAC+USC Medical Center
2014    Trece, Boathouse Gallery at Plaza De La Raza, Los Angeles, CA
2013    Boyle Heights: Arte Vida Y Amor, Avenue 50 for LAC+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
2011    End of the Year Print Show - Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA

COLLECTIONS
Vincent Price Art Museum
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
UC Santa Barbara Special Collections

AWARDS
2018 Nominated Emerging Artist, Rema Hort Mann Foundation
2016 Outstanding Local Artist Award, Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce

COMMISSIONED PHOTOGRAPHY
2015   Immigrants of Innovation Week, FWD.us, Los Angeles, CA
2015   York and Fig: Where are they Now, MarketPlace.org, Wealth & Poverty Desk,
Highland Park, CA
2014   York and Fig: At the Intersection of Change, MarketPlace.org, Wealth & Poverty Desk, Highland Park, CA
2013   Public Underwater Photo Shoot in East LA, soniaromero.net

PUBLICATIONS
MAS ACA, 2016
Landscapes and Land Dwellers, 2021

PRESS
Carolina Miranda, “He ended up capturing a pandemic”, Los Angeles Times
William Sawalich, "The Weight of Life", Digital Photo Pro Magazine, April 2018 Issue
Miranda, Carolina, “How a camera and a blog led Rafael Cardenas to capture LA Life”, Los Angeles Times July 2016
Lelyveld, Nita, “Focusing on photography becomes labor of love”, Los Angeles Times, May 2015
Trinh, Jean, “Photographer: An Up-Close-And-Personal Look At Eastsiders Today”, LAist, April 2014
Bermudez, Esmeralda “Individual portraits capture a community”, Los Angeles Times, April 2014

TEACHING AND TALKS
2021 Photography for kids 12-16, Self Help Graphics and Art
2019 Guest Speaker, Skirball Culural Center
2018   Guest Lecturer, Occidental College Photography Department
2017   Guest Lecturer, UCLA Art Department
2016-17   Guest Speaker, Rancho Research Institute, Photography as Therapy for Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury
2016   Panelist, Self Help Graphics, Symposium on Art and Identity in Chicana/o  Communities
2014-16   Annual Guest Speaker, New Roads School, 8th Grade Photography Course
2015   Guest Speaker: “Honest Work Creates An Honest Buzz”, Pasadena Photography
2014   Workshop: Las Fotos Project, 2014