Paintings 2025

Ruben Nieto expands his visual language with a body of work that fuses cosmology, mythology, figuration, and organic forms into a rich symbolic landscape.

Rooted in the artist’s Central American heritage, these works draw from the visual traditions of epigraphy, evoking the layered complexity of ancient inscriptions while reimagining them within a contemporary, cosmic framework. Titles such as The Birthplace of Pegasus, Looking Across the Universe for Pegasus, Crowning Stars, and the exhibition’s namesake, Quantum Entanglement of a Supernova, underscore Nieto’s exploration of the interwoven forces of myth and science, past and present.

Nieto reflects on his influences:
"As an art student in the 1990s, I became fascinated by the Pre-Hispanic cultures of Mesoamerica, especially Maya and Aztec art. Their glyphs and pictograms drew me in, and I began to study them closely, eventually creating a personal dictionary inspired by their forms. Over time, I transformed these symbols into my own visual language, one that now lives at the core of my compositions. My paintings are inspired by this ancient imagery, yet reimagined through the energy of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. Influences like Cy Twombly, J.M.W. Turner, and Pablo Picasso continue to guide my practice."

Vibrant, gestural, and enigmatic, Nieto’s paintings reflect on the mysteries of origin, transformation, and interconnectedness, inviting viewers into a world where cosmic phenomena and ancestral symbols converge. With Quantum Entanglement of a Super Nova, Nieto offers a bold new chapter in his practice—one that transcends the comic frame and enters a realm of universal storytelling.