Cande Aguilar (b. 1972, Brownsville, Texas) is a self-taught artist who reflects on border culture through his BarrioPOP distinctive style. At the young age of 10, Aguilar embarked on a music career, and at the age of 13 recorded his first album. As a musician, he toured the United States and received numerous awards. Life on the road allowed Aguilar to mature and gain inspiration from diverse cultures. In 1999 he produced his first oil painting, and has since accumulated an impressive body of work. In this short period, he has shown his passion and dedication for the arts. Aguilar defines his BarrioPOP style as an amalgamation sprung by characters, colors and street phenomena. His work has been featured in shows at The Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Craighead Green Gallery & Kirk Hopper Fine Art in Dallas, K Space Contemporary in Corpus Christi, TX, The Painting Center in New York City, Studio Apothiki in Cyprus and the Texas Biennial 2017 in Austin.
Cande Aguilar (b. 1972, Brownsville, TX) is a self-taught contemporary artist whose work explores the visual language of border culture through a dynamic, layered aesthetic. Over the past 24 years, Cande Aguilar has established a distinctive artistic voice, barrioPOP, exhibiting in 27 solo exhibitions and 154 group shows across the U.S. and internationally.
Raised along the U.S.-Mexico border, Cande Aguilar developed a deep connection to the sights, textures, and rhythms of his environment, elements that inform his signature style—a vibrant, collage-like fusion of imagery drawn from everyday life. Before fully dedicating himself to visual art, he was an accomplished musician, recording his first conjunto music album at 13 and touring across the United States as an accordionist in the Tejano music group he helped found Elida Y Avante. In 1999, with the breakup of the group he transitioned to visual art, developing a body of work that channels the raw energy of urban landscapes, art history, pop culture, and street iconography into a singular artistic language.
His solo exhibitions include shows at the McNay Art Museum (San Antonio) Brownsville Museum of Fine Art (2001, 2020), the International Museum of Arts & Science (McAllen, TX), Presa House Gallery (San Antonio) 81 Leonard Gallery (New York) Grayduck Gallery (Austin), and Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (San Antonio), among others. His work has been featured in major group exhibitions at institutions and galleries such as MACLA Museum (San Jose, CA), Alexandria Museum of Art (Louisiana), Wichita Falls Museum of Art, Mexic-Arte Museum (Austin) Keijsers Koning (Dallas TX) Center of Tamines & Auvelais (Belgium) The Painting Center (New York), Boecker Contemporary (Germany), and La Laguna (Spain). In 2017, his work was selected for the Texas Biennial, and in 2023, it was included in Soy de Tejas at Centro de Artes (San Antonio, TX).
Most recently, Cande Aguilar’s work was acquired by The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art in Riverside, CA, where it was featured in the inaugural exhibition Cheech Collects.