Artist Registry
The White Columns Curated Artist Registry is an online platform for emerging and under-recognized artists to share images and information about their respective practices. The Registry seeks to create a context for artists who have yet to benefit from wider critical, curatorial or commercial support. To be eligible, artists cannot be affiliated with a commercial gallery in New York City.
To apply to the Registry, click here. Join our mailing list here to receive our open call announcement and other programming updates. For any further questions about the Registry, please contact us at registry@whitecolumns.org.
STATEMENT OF WORK
Napoleón Aguilera's artistic practice thrives on the interplay between diverse materials, local nuances, and vibrant collaborations across multiple crafts, ranging from wood carving and blacksmithing to lapidary work in basalt and obsidian. More than technical exercises, his work serves as a field of experimentation where the local engages in dialogue with global imaginaries. He often employs strategies such as humor and double entendre to conceive projects that bring into play universes as disparate as cockfights, science fiction, fashion, or criminal slang. Aguilera takes deep pride in creating objects, drawings, and actions distinguished by both conceptual strength and meticulous detail. His practice aims to unsettle the familiar, generating new visual narratives charged with critical and poetic energy.
Napoleón Aguilera (b. 1986, Guadalajara, Mexico) received a B.Arch from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in 2010. His works has been shown in solo exhibitions at Palma Galería, Guadalajara (2025); Estación Material Vol. 4, Guadalajara (2025); Arte Expuesto, Monterrey (2025); Salón ACME, Mexico City (2023); Proyecto CAIMAN, Guadalajara (2020). Recent group presentations include those at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC), Houston (2026); White Columns, New York (2026); Museo Raúl Anguiano (MURA), Guadalajara (2025); Gallery Bogart, Kansas City (2025); La Nao Galería, Mexico City (2025); 21c Museum, St. Louis (2024); Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Guadalajara (2024); HVW8 Gallery, Los Angeles (2024); Visions West Contemporary, Denver (2024); Studio CROMA, Mexico City (2024), among other venues. He is a recipient of PECDA Jalisco grant (2025) and was selected for the Curated Artist Registry at White Columns, New York (2024).
His work is included in the collections of the 21c Museum, Louisville; the Servais Family Collection, Brussels; and Alma Colectiva, Guadalajara.