Sergio Nates is a Mexican born artist based in New York whose work investigates the way images are formed through memory, perception, and lived experience. His practice grows out of a lifelong tendency to understand the world visually rather than through spoken language. From an early age he drew, dismantled objects, rebuilt them, and used images as a means to think, communicate, and make sense of his surroundings.
Working on raw canvas, Nates creates large scale compositions that merge abstraction with echoes of the figure. He constructs layered structures where fragments, gestures, and perceptual impressions coexist without fully resolving into representation. The paintings reflect the internal visual worlds that arise behind closed eyes and the ways the mind reconstructs meaning from accumulated experience. His work sits in the space between recognition and dissolution, offering shifting forms that evoke bodies, architectures, and psychological states.
His artistic language is informed by the visual and architectural landscape of Mexico City, where he grew up surrounded by modern design, functionalist architecture, and the legacy of Mexican abstraction. The influence of Gunther Gerzso, Mathias Goeritz, Manuel Felguerez, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Georges Mathieu, Helen Frankenthaler, Lebbeus Woods, and Robert Rauschenberg shapes the conceptual foundation of his practice. Their impact is visible not through direct reference but through an interest in structure, gesture, spatial tension, and the negotiation between chaos and order.
Since relocating to New York, Nates has expanded his focus to include the perceptual and emotional atmosphere of the city. The works developed in his Long Island City studio absorb the rhythms of urban encounters, the movement of crowds, fleeting gestures, and the psychological charge of the city. These paintings do not depict New York but reflect the ways the city alters the internal images that guide his work.
Nates has exhibited in San Francisco, Dallas, and New York, and his paintings are held in private collections in the United States and Mexico. His move to New York marks a significant stage in his career, allowing him to deepen his practice, scale his ambitions, and pursue the long term goal of entering important collections and institutional spaces.
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Representation
Lori Austin Gallery, Sonoma, California
Ro2 Art Gallery, Dallas, Texas
SPACS ART, 149 W 27th Street, Chelsea, New York
Sin Título Gallery, San Francisco, California
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Awards & Honors
Silver Award, Non-Objective Abstract Exhibition, juried by David Reif, 3 Square Art, Fort Collins, Colorado (2020)
Artist Talks, Seminars & Professional Invitations
Artist Talk, Mexican Consulate, San Francisco (2024)
Abstract Art and the Rupture Generation in Mexico, Mexican Consulate Program (2024)
Third Binational Seminar for Mexican Artists in the USA, Mexican Consulate Program (2023)
Second Binational Seminar for Mexican Artists in the USA, Mexican Consulate Program (2022)
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Curatorial & Project Leadership
Director and Curator, Estacionarte 06, Mexico City (2006)
Director and Curator, Estacionarte 07, Mexico City (2007)
Director and Curator, Estacionarte 08, Mexico City (2008)
Installation “Migrantes,” Mexico City (2006)
Commissioned Logo Design, 175th Anniversary, Mexican Consulate, San Francisco (2023)
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Selected Exhibitions
2025
Interwoven Landscapes, curated by Moxin Chen, The Factory LIC, Long Island City, New York
Points of Transition, curated by Sherwin Banfield, The Factory LIC, Long Island City, New York
SPACS ART, 149 W 27th Street, Chelsea, New York
LIC Arts Open Studios, Long Island City, New York
2024
Collective Show, Project Artaud, San Francisco, California
Corazón Migrante Touring Exhibition (Asia), Mexican Consulate Program
Benicia Artists Open Studios, Benicia, California
Art Market San Francisco, represented by Sin Título Gallery
Artist Talk, Mexican Consulate, San Francisco, California
Abstract Art and the Rupture Generation in Mexico, Mexican Consulate Program
Lori Austin Gallery, Sonoma, California
2023
Chromatic Secrets, Ro2 Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Solo Exhibition, Mexican Consulate, San Francisco, California
Art Market San Francisco, represented by Sin Título Gallery
Benicia Artists Open Studios, Benicia, California
Corazón Migrante Touring Exhibition, Mexican Consulates in the United States
Third Binational Seminar for Mexican Artists in the USA, Mexican Consulate Program
Commissioned Logo Design, 175th Anniversary of the Mexican Consulate, San Francisco
2022
Art Market San Francisco, represented by Sin Título Gallery
Art of a Community, Arts Benicia, Benicia, California
Corazón Migrante Touring Exhibition, Mexican Consulates in the United States
Second Binational Seminar for Mexican Artists in the USA, Mexican Consulate Program
2020
Minimalism, ShockBoxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, California (juried)
Fragments, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, California (juried)
The de Young Open, de Young Museum, San Francisco, California (juried)
Silver Award, Non-Objective Abstract Exhibition, 3 Square Art, Fort Collins, Colorado
2019
Benicia Artists Open Studios, Benicia, California
2014
Collective Show, Agora Gallery, New York, New York
Solo Exhibition, Entropía Utópica, Polanco, Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, Galería Mónica Saucedo, Colima, Mexico
Collective Exhibition, Retrouvé Arte Psicodélico, Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, Moysen Gallery, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico
2012
Solo Exhibition, When Money is Transformed, IMAS, McAllen, Texas
2011
Solo Exhibition, Dinero, Galería Maresa Arévalo, Mexico City
2010
Collective Exhibition, EDS Galería, Polanco, Mexico City
2009
Solo Exhibition, Presión Tensión, EDS Galería, Mexico City
2008
Estacionarte 08, Director and Curator, Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, Deluge Contemporary Art, Victoria, British Columbia
Collective Exhibition, Grupo de los 16, Mexico City
2007
Estacionarte 07, Director and Curator, Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, Grupo de los 16, Mexico City
2006
Estacionarte 06, Director and Curator, Mexico City
Installation “Migrantes,” Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, Humanos, no Humanos, Victoria, Canada
Solo Exhibition, Galería Lart 23 Tres, Mexico City
2005
Solo Exhibition, Imágenes Mentales, Mexico City Airport ASA
Solo Exhibition, Mextilo, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, 18th Dallas Video Festival, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
Collective Exhibition, LatinArte, Dallas Theater Center
Collective Exhibition, Galería Garash, Mexico City
2004
Solo Exhibition, Segmentos de Control and Estaciones Terrestres, La Estancia Galería, Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, SCT Palacio Postal Mural Project, Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, Casa San Rafael, Mexico City
Collective Exhibition, Mexico at The Hague, Netherlands
2003
Solo Exhibition, Imágenes Mentales, Mix-Artmyrys, Toulouse, France
Collective Exhibition, Museo de Arte Moderno Carlos Mérida, Guatemala City
2002
Solo Exhibition, Imágenes Mentales, Galería Luís Escobar, Guatemala City
Collective Exhibition, Bloqueos, Santiago, Cuba
2001
Collective Exhibition, Por Donde Salta la Liebre, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City
