Raul Pizarro (born November 11, 1975) is a queer, disabled, latinx visual artist, known for his Day of the Dead series,[1] as well as his paintings about his queerness and his disability.[2]
Pizarro was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, and since he was unable to continue making large canvas paintings, his paintings were smaller.[4] In 2016, engineers from the Northrop Grumman FabLab at the Redondo Beach Space Park created a remote-controlled easel[5] allowing him access to paint any size canvas.[4]
That same year, Pizarro received funding for a van to support his wheelchair through the "Raul Pizarro's Wheelchair Van" GoFundMe on gofundme.com, set up by Holly Vredenburg.[6]
Notable art
Pizarro's paintings focus on the artists' intersectional identities as a disabled, queer, Latinx person raised evangelical. His visual work explores relationship between religion, disability and queerness.[3]
Pizarro's Songs for a Deaf God series is a collection of oil-on-canvas paintings focused on identity and the intersection of gender identity, mental illness, and disability, namely in a religious context.[3]
Pizarro's Feral Allegories series, a collection of oil paintings, were inspired for Pizarro's relationship with his nephew. The paintings helped him develop a special connection to his nephew, communicating through images of bears and pandas.[4]
In 2022, Pizarro worked on the Tiangius Project, creating a series centered around the experience of immigrants.[9]
