Mario Ybarra Jr.

Los Angeles, California

Mario Ybarra Jr., is a visual and performance artist, educator, and activist who combines street culture with fine art in order to produce what he calls “contemporary art that is filtered through a Mexican-American experience in Los Angeles.”

WHY WE LOVE MARIO:

• He has been known to disguise himself as the secret superhero Magic Mariachi to engage bilingual students in conversations about identity, community, and action
• A modern man on the street, he uses his many talents as a visual and performance artist, educator, and activist to create site-specific urban interventions
• In 2002, he co-founded the collective Slanguage — made up of teenagers, street artists, and established mid – to late career artists, the group’s focus is education, community-building, interactive exhibitions, and fostering dialogue about the meaning of contemporary art