Angel Cabrales, Texas Sculpture Group

From El Paso, Texas

Artist Statement:

I examine the dehumanization of people through the politicization, marketing and spin that we are subjected to in our everyday lives by exploiting commercialism and placing issues in an appetizing, yet, disturbingly consumable form. In an era where the masses are looked upon as “consumers” rather than citizens, I have found that the best way to skirt laws is to redefine them or outright claim them to be “fake news.” My multi-media installations and sculptures comment on immigration, inequality and domestic terrorism, in our commercial-centric society. This is to not only to heighten awareness of the subject matter, but to begin conversation where most would rather be entertained. The creation and engineering of the work is not just an artistic presentation: it is an invitation to incorporate the viewer into the work itself, creating an interactive experience that merges a passion for the arts with today’s technologies and the social/political concerns of today.

Artist Biography

rom the border city, El Paso, TX, Angel Cabrales, MFA, is an Assistant Professor in Sculpture at the University of Texas at El Paso. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Arizona State University and Masters of Fine Arts from The University of North Texas.

Cabrales views everything as an artistic resource and utilizes this in all his creations, from his extensive experience with a variety of mediums and styles, to the intangibles, such as his upbringing in the Borderlands, his work grows and expands with the requirements presented from each new idea.  His father a retired engineer at White Sands Missile Range, instilled Angel with a great interest in science and engineering, while his mother, a politically active stay at home mother, taught him the importance of community and social work through her volunteer work. Angel's work is an amalgamation of his upbringing resulting in social/political commentary with an engineered flare. The artwork’s concept ultimately dictates the medium needed for its creation, so artistic evolution is intrinsic in his philosophy.

Angel is the current artist fellow for the Looking for America project out of Washington D.C. and has exhibited in the International TransBorder Biennial, Texas Biennial, The Sculpture Biennial of Texas, the Chamizal National Memorial, the MAC Dallas, the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum in Mesa, AZ, The Latino Cultural Center of Dallas, El Paso Museum of Art, Wave Pool Gallery in Cincinnati, OH, Grand Art Haus in Phoenix, AZ, Baton Rouge Gallery, and collaborated with the AMBOS Project (an intervention collaboration on the Border) from Los Angeles. He is also featured in the Icons and Symbols of the Borderland book by Diana Molina and La Frontera: Artists along the Mexican/American Border by Stefan Falk. He is represented by the Ro2 Gallery in Dallas, TX and the Royse Contemporary in Scottsdale, AZ. Cabrales is also a member of the International Sculpture Center, the Texas Sculpture Group, the JUNTOS art collective and the Construct Collective. Angel was a juror for the 2020 Student Achievement Awards for Sculpture Magazine. He helped raise money in 2018 for Annunciation House in El Paso to assist the refugee families and children in the detention center in Tornillo, TX and participated in an auction to assist the families of those affected by the El Paso shooting in August of 2019. 

Cabrales teaches all levels of Sculpture at UTEP, created Experimental Systems in Sculpture focused on STEAM elements in art and Neon Sculpture. Currently, he was awarded a Maker Space and suite in the new Interdisciplinary Research Building at UTEP for his team, EASSI (Engineering + Art + Science = Social Impact) to work on community engaged projects involving arts and sciences where he and his students are working with artist Chico MacMurtie on his Border Crossers project. He also serves on the Dean’s Interdisciplinary Task Force for Community Engagement.