Francis Almendarez

Almendárez's work takes many different forms including exhibitions, screenings, workshops, collaborations, and performances that have been presented in museum, university, arts nonprofit, artist-run, virtual, and DIY spaces both nationally and internationally. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Blaffer Art Museum and FotoFest International, Houston, TX; San Antonio Museum of Art; El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY; and National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, TW. He has presented solo exhibitions and commissioned projects at Aurora Picture Show, Houston, TX (2020); Galveston Arts Center, TX (2020); Artpace, San Antonio, TX (2019); The Reading Room, Dallas, TX (2019); Houston Center for Photography, TX (2018); and NX Project Space, London, UK (2016). Recent presentations include DIY photography and filmmaking workshops and screenings in Honduras and El Salvador, and a live reading of prose set against an improvised score on trumpet in collaboration with his brother Anthony Almendárez at Antenna in New Orleans. 

Writing on Almendárez's work has been featured in The Invisible Archive, Moving Image Art London, D Magazine, Artforum, Hyperallergic, Glasstire, The Dallas Morning News, Art Papers, and The New York Times among many other publications. He has also contributed interviews and texts to publications including Strange Fire Collective, The Brooklyn Rail, and Burnaway Magazine. He is the recipient of numerous awards including an Artadia Award, the Carol Crow Memorial Fellowship, and artist grants from the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Art's Idea Fund, Dallas Museum of Art, Y.ES Contemporary, and the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance. He has also been a participant of the Artpace International Artist-in-Residence program and the Institute of Contemporary Art Moscow Summer School. 

Almendárez was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, CA and is currently based between Los Angeles, CA and Houston, Texas. He received an MFA in Fine Art (with Distinction) from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BFA in Sculpture/New Genres from Otis College of Art and Design. He recently began his new role as Assistant Professor of Photography, Video, and Studio Art in the Department of Art & Design at California State University, San Bernardino. Previously, he was a full-time Visiting Lecturer at the University of Houston, School of Art from 2019-2022, an Adjunct Professor at Houston Community College from 2019-2021, and a Teaching Artist at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston from 2018-2022. In addition to teaching, he also currently serves on the Board of DiverseWorks in Houston, TX.