January 26, 2026 by Sarah Pipino (‘26)
Guadalupe Hernandez, a current resident artist with the Art Students League of Denver, is a painter and papel picado artist based in Texas. Born in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, before later immigrating to the U.S. with his parents and his brothers, Hernandez grew up surrounded by vibrant Mexican culture. Specifically, he learned the practice of papel picado, which is a traditional Mexican art form that features detailed designs cut into colorful pieces of paper. He uses his talents for painting and papel picado to convey messages of family, culture, and the immigrant experience in the U.S., in various exhibits including Con Cariño and Not the Best: But Either Way, Work Needs to Get Done.
Through his art, Hernandez aims to showcase the imperfect reality of immigrant life in America. His portraiture usually depicts an immigrant worker looking with a joyful or proud expression to the viewer as they stand at their job. With portraits like these, Hernandez changes the narrative of the hard-scrabble world of immigrants in America to a more positive and accomplished one. He has mentioned in the past that many accounts of the immigrant experience only focus on the difficulties and hardships and ignore the joy, which is what inspired him to make the art he does. His works remind everyone who views them that happiness and love in the face of struggle is its own form of strength. And that, as challenging as it may be to attain, is absolutely essential for surviving and thriving in a world filled with so much adversity.
To learn more about Hernandez, his artist website is guadalupehernandezart.com and his Instagram page is lupehernandez_art. I would highly recommend checking out his other works – his talent and activism are not only impressive, but inspiring, especially in trying times like today.
Photo source: guadalupehernandezart.com
