Born in 1973 in Beeville, Texas, USA
Lives and works in Los Angeles, California, USA
Roberto Benavidez was drawn to art at an early age but was raised in rural South Texas, where there was little access to visual arts education. He pursued his secondary interest in acting, and earned his BFA from Texas State University. After a few years of moderate acting success, Benavidez found himself returning to his original passion for the visual arts and headed west to California. After taking classes at Pasadena City College in sculpting, drawing and painting, he trained in the art of bronze casting, working in an abstract, figurative style.
An important development in Benavidez’s career was his shift to paper as his primary medium—specifically, making fantastical and whimsical piñata-based sculptures using traditional piñata materials and techniques. He received notable acclaim for his series, Piñatas of Earthly Delights, based on the fanciful creatures and figures that roam Hieronymus Bosch’s epic painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights. This series was the subject of a solo exhibition at the AD &A Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara, focusing on the underlying theme of “sin” in both the piñata, and the painting from which it draws inspiration.
A self-described ‘Halfbreed, South Texan, queer’, with a focus on impeccable craftsmanship. Benavidez subtly weaves in elements that reflect the commonality between the history of the piñata and his mixed-race, queer identity, through his empathetic sculpting of hybrid creatures and couplings. His work is represented in museum collections including the Detroit Institute of Art, The Museum of International Folk Art, and the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
solo shows
2025
- Abstract Piñata, Wasserman Works, Detroit, MI, USA
2023
- In the Garden: Piñatas, Diana Berger Gallery, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA, USA
2019
- Medieval Piñata, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa, AZ, USA
- Piñatas of Earthly Delights, AD&A Museum, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
2018
- Illuminated Piñata, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA
2015
- Serrate, LA County Store, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Serrate, Salvage Vanguard Gallery, Austin, TX, USA
2009
- Sugar Skull Piñatas, Art For Empty Walls, Los Angeles, CA, USA
group shows
2025
- Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM, USA
- Tinned: Ten Year Invitational, Wasserman Projects, Detroit, MI, USA
- Nature, BIMA, Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
2024
- Crossing the Line: The Passport Re-Imagined, BIMA, Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
- Passion For Paper, Strohl Art Center, Chautaqua, NY, USA
2023
- The Possibilities of Paper, Torggler Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA, USA
- Lagomorphs: Rabbits and Hares in Contemporary Craft, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, USA
- LatinX Voices, Woodstock Arts, Woodstock, GA, USA
- Enormous Tiny Art, Nahcotta, Portsmouth, NH, USA
2022
- Piñatas: The High Art of Celebration, Mingei Museum, San Diego, CA, USA
- ¿Quién(es) Rompe(n) las Piñatas?, Museo de Arte Y Diseño Contemporáneo, San Jose, Costa Rica
- Division of Birds, Paradigm Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Paper Show, Heron Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Aviary, Loft at Liz’s, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Through the Winter, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA
2021
- Piñatas: The High Art of Celebration, Craft In America, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Brand 49, Brand Library & Art Center, Glendale, CA, USA
- Spirit, Gold Bug, Pasadena, CA, USA
- The Art of Paper, Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, The Woodlands, TX, USA
- LA Scenes & LA Made, Craft in America-LAX Airport, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2020
- Love 20/20, Gold Bug, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Cut, Fold, and Handmade: The Art of Paper, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA, USA
2019
- Ancestral Lights, Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Seattle Weed Pot Invitational, Orcas Paley, Seattle, WA, USA
- Encounters: Honoring the Animal In Ourselves, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA, USA
- Tooth and Claw, Terminal 136, San Antonio, TX, USA
- Beast, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA, USA
- Common Bonds: Artists & Architects on Community, AD&A Museum, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
2018
- 3-D! Pop-up, Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA, USA
- Pialli, CuratorLove, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Per Diem, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA
- Et Tu, Art Brute?, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2017
- Crossing Boundaries: Engendering LGBTQ Identities, Avenue 50 Studio, Los Angeles, CA, USA
public collections
Detroit Institute of Arts
Los Angeles Metro
The Museum of International Folk Art
Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum