Carlos Rolón (b. 1970) is known for his multi-disciplinary practice that spans painting, sculpture, installation, and social engagement. His work employs a wide range of media to explore themes of craft, ritual, beauty, spirituality, identity, and their relationship to art history and the institution.
Born to a Puerto Rican family, Rolón’s background allows him to explore personal ideas that directly address questions of inclusion, aspiration, and cultural identity.
His practice often connects to childhood memories and observations of how households have adapted to new American middle-class lifestyles, with homes, walls, and furniture adorned with color, texture, and patterns brought in to create a sense of belonging and longing.
From these origins, Rolón draws inspiration to create a hybrid visual language through paintings, sculpture, social practice, and site-specific installations that bridge public and private spaces and invite self-reflection, symbolism, and community engagement.
Rolón’s work examines cultivated environments, social barriers, and their relationship to postcolonial histories, producing artworks that oscillate between melancholy and exuberance, between celebration and reflection.
Rolón has had solo exhibitions at The Dallas Contemporary, Dallas; Bass Museum of Art, Miami; Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan; Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; and CAM St. Louis.
Recent solo projects include Threads of Resurgence at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (2024); Humboldt Park Stories at Dragon, Crab and Turtle, St. Louis (2023); The Great Migration at Hexton Gallery, Aspen (2022); and Gold, Secular and Sacred at Maison D’Art, Monaco (2022).
His work has also been presented in group exhibitions at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Marta Herford Museum, Germany; Museum Het Domein, The Netherlands; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Museo del Barrio, New York; Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Canary Islands; Oakland University Art Gallery, Michigan; and Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Recent group exhibitions include Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing at The Norton Museum of Art, Florida (2024); BOLD at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (2025); and 25! at Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago (2025).
In 2007, Rolón represented Ukraine in the 52nd Venice Biennale and is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Painting and Sculpture.
His work is included in the following public collections: Bass Museum of Art, Miami; Brooklyn Museum, New York; City of Chicago Public Art Collection; Daegu Art Museum, South Korea; Museo del Barrio, New York; Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan; Museum Het Domein, The Netherlands; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City; New Orleans Museum of Art; and Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine, among others.
Additional recent acquisitions include the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields; the Rockford Art Museum, Illinois; and the Pensacola Museum of Art, Florida.
Rolón has participated in artist-in-residence programs at Anderson Ranch, Aspen, Colorado; the Joan Mitchell Foundation, New Orleans, Louisiana; Instituto Buena Bista, Curaçao; and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom.
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