Marcus Venegas
Marcus Venegas (b. 2001, Laredo, TX) earned a BFA in Studio Art at The University of Texas at Austin, and is currently earning his MFA at the New York Academy of Art. His work has been featured in Curatory Magazine Volume 7 interview, a Times Square digital billboard, Artistcloseup Contemporary Art Magazine #29, Modern Renaissance Magazine issue #31, Visual Art Journal Magazine/interview #24, Volume 18 of Friend of the Artist art book, Issue #102 of International Art Market Magazine, Beautiful Bizarre online article, Art Collide open theme summer 2025 finalist, Issue 13 of the online & printed publication of Divide Magazine, Issue 7 of the online & printed Artsin Square Magazine, Artsin Square personal artbook/interview, and the 6th edition online & printed Spring publication of Apricity Magazine, where the work was exhibited in the Sinclair Suite at the Texas Union, Austin (2022). His work has also appeared at the “39th annual Chelsea International Fine Arts Competition Exhibition” at Agora Gallery, NY (2025), the Art and Identity Showcase in the WCP Ballroom, Austin (2023), and the #8 Artsin Square Virtual Exhibition (2024). Venegas participated in the Tribeca Ball Hallway Exhibition, New York, (2025 & 2026); the group exhibitions “Somos Recuerdos,” Austin, (2024); “By NYC,” New York, (2023); “The Last Minute Show,” Austin, (2022); “With All the Desperation of a Starving Dog,” Austin, (2022); “The Armageddon Show,” Austin, (2022); “Print Extravaganza,” Austin (2023); “I’ll Call you Back,” Austin, (2023); and “Reimaging Health: Aesthetics of Health,” an exhibition displayed in the Health Discovery building in Del Medical School as well as in the Visual Arts Center, Austin, (2022). Venegas has been awarded the President’s Scholar Award (2024-2026), the Summer Undergraduate Residency Program (SURP) Faculty Award (2026), as well as the SURP Academy Scholar Award, and attended the Summer Undergraduate Residency Program at the New York Academy of Art (2023-2024). He also has been awarded the Roy Crane Award, Austin, TX (2022); a Gold Seal Medal for the VASE competition, San Marcos, TX (2019); as well as a Gold Key for Arts and Writing Scholastic event in New York, NY (2019).
Artist Statement
Marcus Venegas: The Remembering Self
I am a storyteller. As a gay Mexican-American artist, I find myself in a challenging position to share with others the realities of being young and queer, specifically when it comes to romance. Allowing masculinity to submit itself to vulnerability creates an emotional motif that further references the impetuous actions that come with youth while highlighting its impermanence. Through the use of lyrical compositions, I immerse myself in a universe of pictorial poetry and the overall theatrical nature of romance through the fading softness of each piece. Collecting these pieces over time results in building accurate archival documentation of the various experiences that not only shaped me into who I am today but also exemplifies the significance of what a queer man experiences in modern times.