About

BIO

Reyes Padilla is an Albuquerque-based painter and muralist whose creations on canvas and sitespecific installations take inspiration from the New Mexico landscape and the multicultural environment in which he was raised.

Born in Santa Fe, Padilla first discovered his artistry through music as his experience of sound translated to a visual experience, a neurological phenomenon known as synesthesia. Padilla’s process of painting to music is of the moment, his imagery and brush strokes colliding naturally in an active dance of sight and sound.

Padilla’s works have been widely collected by a variety of private collectors and public entities, including the City of Albuquerque; State of New Mexico; City Of Braddock, Pennsylvania; and Arizona’s Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. His work has also been prominently featured on an episode of the hit TV show Better Call Saul.

In 2021, Padilla was the lead artist for New Mexico’s first permanent traffic mural located in the Barelas neighborhood in Albuquerque. In 2022, his large-scale design was selected for the Acequia Revitalization Project at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, also based in Barelas. Set to begin in 2023, the project incorporates tilework in fluid imagery reflecting the northern New Mexico acequia tradition.

Most recently, Padilla traveled to Munich, Germany, to work with Franz Mayer of Munich, an internationally renowned stained glass design and manufacturing company. The project is part of an Albuquerque Public Art commission for which Padilla is creating custom architectural glass art for the city’s new International District Library.

Padilla has received several awards and honors, including a SOMOS ABQ fellowship and the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Of the Year award from Central New Mexico Community College.