Xavier Viramontes - prints and biography
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 30
Image Size: 12 x 23 inches
Paper Size: 22 x 30 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 30
Image Size: 12 x 23 inches
Paper Size: 22 x 30 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 25, EV
Image Size: 18 x 12 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 25
Image Size: 12 x 10 inches
The Church Lady by Xavier Viramontes is a vibrant etching and aquatint depicting a dog adorned with a flowered hat and lace veil, rendered with expressive color and playful symbolism. The frontal pose and direct gaze give the subject a dignified yet gently comic presence.
Viramontes’s bold linework, saturated palette, and textured surface blend portraiture with wit, drawing on popular imagery and cultural reference. The result is a character-driven print that balances humor and craftsmanship, emblematic of the artist’s distinctive narrative style.
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 25
Image Size: 12 x 9 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 25
Image Size: 11.5 x 9 inches
The Cisco Kid by Xavier Viramontes is a richly colored etching and aquatint portraying a spaniel crowned with an ornate sombrero against a radiant yellow ground. Blending humor, portraiture, and cultural reference, the work reflects Viramontes’s distinctive approach to narrative imagery and Chicano visual traditions.
Known for his expressive line, saturated color, and symbolic detail, Viramontes brings a playful yet dignified presence to the subject. The carefully rendered textures of fur, fabric, and ornament give the image a lively immediacy while maintaining the precision of fine printmaking.
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 25
Image Size: 10 x 8 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 30
Image Size: 17 x 24 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 25
Image Size: 15 x 21 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 25
Image Size: 22 x 15 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 30
Image Size: 18 x 21 inches
Paper Size: 22 x 30 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 30
Image Size: 24 x 17.5 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 15
Image Size: 22.5 x 36 inches
Paper Size: 29.5 x 41 inches
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 30
Image Size: 18 x 21 inches
Paper Size: 22 x 30
Xavier Viramontes
Biography
Xavier Viramontes (b. 1943, Richmond, California) is a painter, printmaker, and educator whose work reflects a deep engagement with Chicano identity and social justice. Raised in a Mexican-American household, he developed an early interest in art that carried him through military service and eventually into formal study. He earned a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and later an MA in Printmaking from San Francisco State University.
Viramontes is best known for his etchings and serigraphs, where bold colors and symbolic imagery communicate themes of heritage, labor, and cultural pride. In the 1970s he became active in the Bay Area Chicano art movement, producing prints, posters, and murals that supported community struggles for equality and recognition. His “Boycott Grapes” poster, created in support of the United Farm Workers, became an enduring symbol of solidarity and remains one of his most recognized works.
Alongside his art practice, Viramontes has spent decades as an educator, teaching printmaking and design at City College of San Francisco. His work has been exhibited widely in the U.S. and abroad and is represented in both public and private collections. His approach balances serious political and cultural subjects with a visual style that is direct, vibrant, and accessible.
Through his dual role as artist and teacher, Viramontes has helped to shape new generations of artists while contributing to the ongoing narrative of Chicano art. His career demonstrates how printmaking can function as both personal expression and a tool of social change.
By Xavier Viramontes
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Edition of 30
Image Size: 24 x 12 inches
The Letter by Xavier Viramontes is an intimate, multilayered portrait of a young artist’s inner world, composed through the objects and images gathered on his workspace. A handwritten letter lies open across a drafting table, surrounded by sketches, pencils, and personal mementos. Above the desk, a bulletin board displays iconic cultural references—Frida Kahlo, a lowrider car, a bodybuilder’s pose, Renaissance imagery—each suggesting influences, aspirations, and fragments of identity.
Part of a series loosely inspired by the correspondence of a young gay Latino navigating art, culture, and self-discovery, the print weaves together autobiography and symbolism. Viramontes’ richly detailed style and vivid color palette invite the viewer into a private moment where creativity, longing, and lived experience intersect.