Miguel is now available for Fashion Illustration assigments.

Preferes to work from the live model.

The images above are from the “Homombe L.A.”  Print Atelier.

Artists represented above are: Miguel Angel Reyes, Ruben Esparza, Hector Silva, and Rigo Maldonado.

Artists also included in the “Homombre L. A.” Atelier are: Jef Huereque, Alex Donis,

Alex Alferov, Paul Sweeney, Luciano Martinez, and Joey Terrill

For more information on this event, please go to the Tom of Finland Foundation

Usually Second Sunday of the Month @TomofFinlandFoundation.org

Models to be announced,  $25 suggested donation at the door

we will be drawing in two different areas if we have an overflow.

Tom of Finland Foundation Headquarters 1421 Laveta Terrace, Los Angeles, CA 90026, (Echo Park) Map 

RSVP Required   MiguelReyesArt@yahoo.com 

18 artists maximum  Hope to see you guys there.

When Miguel Angel Reyes tells you he’s not political, don’t believe him, no matter how disarming his smile. Despite his protestations, it’s clear that this talented portrait painter, muralist and illustrator inherited his grandfather Heriberto’s passion for bringing people together for a good cause—that, and a big head.

“He had a big head like me,” says Miguel with a sly, mischievous laugh. “It’s not that he thought he was big—it’s just a joke about having a big cranium.”

At the moment, Miguel’s head—and heart—are being put to good use. He is one of the artists tasked with inviting others to donate artwork for Amigos y Amantes (Friends & Lovers), an art exhibition and fundraiser to benefit AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s free AIDS treatment clinics in Mexico. Miguel, a Los Angeles-based artist, will also be donating his own work for the event, which features the artwork of some of LA’s most notable and emerging Latino artists.

Miguel has been bringing artists together in the service of good causes since he graduated from Otis Art Institute/Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration. This time, his talents will benefit the same country that his grandfather was so passionate about improving, by helping to provide AIDS treatment to people in need.

“My grandfather lived on a little ranch, a little town in Mexico and he was always involved in improving the community and rallying people together. I think his bringing people together passed on to my father and then passed on to me. But my choice is to give through the arts.”

Miguel’s instinct to give back may also stem from having encountered many mentors in his life, particularly in the period of adjustment following his immigration to Southern California from Mexico with his family at the age of 10. Miguel counts as a primary influence his friendship with Morris Kight, gay civil rights pioneer and AIDS activist, whom many consider to be the founder of the West Coast gay rights movement. When they met, Morris was older than Miguel by a good 45 years.

“People who are older have something to give you. And then in turn when you get older, you have to give to other people,” says Miguel.

And give back he does. Though Miguel regularly donates his work in support of various causes, his art has no agenda. Well-known for his portraits, especially his gallery of faces and male nudes, Miguel characterizes his art as “decorative.” Working mostly with acrylic on canvas, his pieces often create an intimacy between subject and viewer—fostered by the fact that he paints from photographs that he himself has taken. An understanding of the human body is also apparent in Miguel’s work—something that likely comes from his background in fashion illustration, his original passion.

When asked about his current projects, Miguel offers: “I’m working on a series of drawings of men grooming—combing their hair, taking a shower, drying themselves. Simple, everyday actions.” He adds with a laugh, “Naked, of course.”

His training as a dancer is another influence on his work—he danced for a season with the San Diego Dance Theatre. A sense of movement can be seen in much of his work, especially in this series of paintings called “Duets” which depicts two men locked in various poses expressing the evolving power dynamic between them. “Wrestling slash dancing,” describes Miguel. “It’s a snapshot of a dance. That’s how I see my work.”

When asked if he sees himself as political, or as a community leader, like his grandfather, Miguel replies in characteristically humble fashion:

“My grandfather’s heart was in it, but mine’s not. He would write letters to the president and the governor of the state about improvements to the community, about building a road to get from the big city to the little town that he lived in. He was instrumental in getting the school down there in his little town. He was involved in improving the community.”

Bringing artists together to help people living with HIV/AIDS in Mexico is one way Miguel is helping to improve the community, making it clear that a big head is not the only thing he inherited from his grandfather Heriberto.
_____________________________________________________

Since 1989, Miguel Angel Reyes has had fifteen solo exhibits and been feature in over a hundred group show throughout the U.S., as well as in Mexico, Europe and Asia. Members of the public will have the opportunity to bid on Miguel’s work at AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s art exhibition and auction, Amigos y Amantes (Friends & Lovers) at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Conference Center in downtown LA on Saturday, February 10th from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. For more information about the event please visit www.aidshealth.org. To find our more about the artist and his work, please visit: www.miguelangelreyes.com

Commissions Available

Tom of Finland Erotic Art Fair

West Hollywood Park, West Hollywood California