![](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f9cd0ec2020532d6b5ece0a/62bd711b-0910-4df3-9d8a-075f721658ab/Aguilar+-+Woman+with+Lightbulb+-+FA+1749+-+crop.jpg)
Farley Aguilar
Farley Aguilar (b. 1980, Managua, Nicaragua) mingles raw graphite lines with expressive gobs of oil paint, collapsing periods of time; he intuits that reworking snapshots of the American past with painting’s tactile immediacy can reveal something about the state of the nation today. Aguilar intervenes in the way images mediate our relationship to history and, by extension, the present. The notion of humanity is at the core of his practice: restoring dignity to those who have been denied it and destabilizing the posture of those responsible for withholding it. Aguilar is concerned with the structural and institutional violence, bolstered by cultural conditioning, that sustains American ideology and perpetuates cycles of oppression. While his subject matter is purportedly historical, the deadpan gaze of many of his figures yanks these scenes into the present. A sense of social justice undergirds Aguilar’s canvases, as he broaches the painter’s position as one of ethical responsibility. Something hopeful also seeps through his multicolored scenes: an intimation that if (and only if) history is acknowledged and its remnants confronted, new paths forward can be forged. Farley Aguilar lives and works in Miami, US.
CV | Press | Exhibitions
Farley Aguilar, The Mourners, 2022 oil paint, oil stick, pencil on linen canvas, 68 x 93 inches, 172.7 x 236.2 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Ribbon Cutting, 2022, Oil paint, oil stick, pencil on linen canvas, 74 x 90 inches, 188 x 228.6 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Chorus, 2022, Oil paint, oil stick, pencil on linen canvas, 54 x 74 1/2 inches, 137.2 x 189.2 cm
Farley Aguilar, A Farewell, 1917, 2021, Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 74 x 106 inches, 188 x 269.2 cm
Farley Aguilar, Nine Men, circa 1910, 2021, Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 75 1/2 x 101 inches, 191.8 x 256.5 cm
Farley Aguilar, Incoming Storm, 1927, 2021, Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 77 1/2 x 51 inches, 196.8 x 129.5 cm
Farley Aguilar, Woman with Lightbulb, 2021, Oil, oil stick, pencil on linen, 36 x 32 inches, 96.5 x 81.3 cm
Farley Aguilar, Officer, 1941, 2021, Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 75 1/2 x 51 inches, 191.8 x 129.5 cm
Farley Aguilar, Allegiance to Tradition, 2020, Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 71 x 55 inches, 180.3 x 139.7 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Screen Test, 2019 Oil, oil crayon and graphite on canvas, 77 x 92 inches, 195.6 x 233.7 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Screen Test 2019. (detail)
Farley Aguilar, Cleanse, 2018, Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 71 x 57 inches, 180.3 x 144.8 cm
Farley Aguilar, Cleanse, 2018 (detail)
Farley Aguilar, Cleansing, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, NY, January 18 - February 24, 2019
Farley Aguilar, The Beach, 2018, Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 76 x 92.5 inches, 193 x 235 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Women, 2018, Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 69 x 91 inches, 175.3 x 231.1 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Women 2018 (side view)
Farley Aguilar, Cleansing, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, NY, January 18 - February 24, 2019
Farley Aguilar, Beauty Contest, 2018 Oil, oil stick, and graphite on linen, 76 x 97.5 inches, 193 x 247.7 cm
Farley Aguilar, Cleansing, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, NY, January 18 - February 24, 2019
Farley Aguilar, Women Sewing, 2016-2017, Oil on linen, 75 x 109 inches, 190.5 x 276.9 cm
Farley Aguilar, Women Sewing, 2016-2017 (detail)
Farley Aguilar, The Cage, 2017, Oil on canvas, 96 x 76 inches, 243.8 x 193 cm
Farley Aguilar, Three Girls, 2017, Oil on linen, 71.5 x 47 inches, 181.6 x 119.4 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Rocking Chair, 2017, Oil on canvas, 74.5 x 96 inches, 189.2 x 243.8 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Rocking Chair, 2017 (detail)
Farley Aguilar, The Meal, 2017, Oil on canvas, 57 x 80 inches, 144.8 x 203.2 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Meal, 2017 (detail)
Farley Aguilar, Factory Girls, 2017, Ink on mylar, 31.5 x 22 inches, 80 x 55.9 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Sodden, 2017 Ink on mylar, 33 x 21.75 inches, 83.8 x 55.2 cm
Farley Aguilar, Women in Line, 2016, Oil on linen, 71.5 x 100 inches, 181.6 x 254 cm
Farley Aguilar, Mother and Child, 2016, Oil on linen, 86 x 61 inches, 154.9 x 218.4 cm
Farley Aguilar, Boy With Two Rabbits, 2016, Oil on linen, 73 x 48 inches, 185.4 x 121.9 cm
Farley Aguilar, Sunrise, 2016, Oil on linen, 75.5 x 93 inches, 191.8 x 236.2 cm
Farley Aguilar, Boy School, 2016, Oil on linen, 67 x 88.5 inches, 170.2 x 224.8 cm
Farley Aguilar, Boys in Line, 2016, Oil on linen, 75.5 x 109.5 inches, 278.1 x 191.8 cm
Farley Aguilar, Bad Color Book, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, NY, January 8 - February 12, 2017
Farley Aguilar, Bad Color Book, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, NY, January 8 - February 12, 2017
Farley Aguilar, Bad Color Book, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, January 8 - February 12, 2017
Farley Aguilar, Bad Color Book, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, NY, January 8 - February 12, 2017
Farley Aguilar, Bad Color Book, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, January 8 - February 12, 2017
Farley Aguilar, Bad Color Book, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, NY, January 8 - February 12, 2017
Farley Aguilar, Bad Color Book, Installation View at Lyles & King, New York, NY, January 8 - February 12, 2017
Farley Aguilar, Girl With Doll, 2016, Oil on linen, 72 x 48 inches, 182.9 x 121.9 cm
Farley Aguilar, The Protest, 2015, Oil on linen, 61.5 x 87.5 inches, 156.2 x 222.25 cm
Farley Aguilar, Mourning, 2015, Oil on linen, 73 x 81 inches, 185.4 x 205.7