Bio & C.V.

“My mission is to create art as a sanctuary where the spiritual intersects with the human experience.” –– Sergio Gomez

Biographical Information

Sergio Gomez is a Mexican-American visual artist, curator, and arts educator whose work explores the cycles of life through large-scale figurative abstraction and charcoal drawing. Now based in South Florida after many years in Chicago, Gomez creates art as a sanctuary—spaces where the spiritual intersects with the human experience, inviting viewers into stillness, reflection, and renewed awareness.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Gomez’s early life was shaped by the intensity and complexity of a vast urban landscape—an influence that still echoes in the emotional layering and psychological depth of his work. His practice is rooted in painting and drawing, and his imagery often moves between revelation and concealment: figures emerge, dissolve, and reappear through veils of mark-making, light, and atmosphere. Across this visual tension, Gomez investigates transformation—how identity shifts through seasons of loss, healing, belonging, and renewal—offering viewers a contemplative encounter rather than a fixed narrative.

Gomez earned his Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Northern Illinois University (2005), following earlier graduate study in painting and drawing at Governors State University. His artwork has been featured in over 45 solo exhibitions across the United States and internationally, including presentations connected to museums and cultural venues in Romania, Italy, Mexico, and Vienna. In addition, he has participated in over 150 group exhibitions across the U.S. and abroad. His work is held in public collections including the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Brauer Museum, along with numerous private collections.

Parallel to his studio practice, Gomez is widely recognized for his curatorial leadership and his dedication to artist advocacy. He has curated over 100 exhibitions in the U.S. and internationally, and his curatorial career includes serving as Director of Exhibitions at the Zhou B. Art Center in Chicago. He is also the founder and director of 33 Contemporary Gallery, an artist-centered platform committed to connecting contemporary art with community, education, and purpose.

A passionate educator and mentor, Gomez taught at South Suburban College from 2006 to 2019 and continues to coach artists worldwide through Art NXT Level®, the premier coaching program he co-founded to help artists build sustainable, impactful careers. In 2015, he launched the Art NXT Level podcast—now featuring hundreds of episodes—alongside an extensive library of educational content with over 1 million views on YouTube. He is also co-author (with Dr. Yanina Gomez) of Crush Self-Sabotage and Live Fully! The Artist’s Wellness Journey to Confidence and Success, bridging studio practice with mindset and personal development.

Through all facets of his work—as artist, curator, and mentor—Sergio Gomez remains committed to elevating the role of art as a meaningful force: not simply something to view, but something to live with, return to, and be transformed by.

Art Statement

I create art as a sanctuary—an intentional space where the spiritual intersects with the human experience.

My paintings and drawings emerge from a lifelong fascination with the unseen forces that shape our lives: the pull of memory, the weight of longing, the mystery of transformation, and the quiet persistence of hope.

Working through large-scale figurative abstraction, I use the body as a threshold—something familiar enough to recognize, yet open enough to become universal. Figures are revealed and obscured through layered surfaces, luminous fields, and gestural interruptions. This tension—between clarity and concealment, matter and spirit—mirrors the way we move through life: holding what is visible while sensing what is beyond.

At the center of my practice is a desire to honor the cycles of existence—how we fracture, endure, heal, and evolve. I’m interested in the moment when a life shifts: when identity loosens, when old narratives fall away, when the soul begins to reorient. The work is not about escape. It is about presence—about making room for contemplation, spiritual awareness, and a deeper form of seeing.

Ultimately, I want the viewer to feel invited—into stillness, into reflection, into relationship with their own inner world. If my work succeeds, it offers more than an image; it offers a pause—an opening—where the sacred can be felt inside the everyday.

Sergio Gomez

Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
Master of Fine Arts, Painting, 2005
GOVERNORS STATE UNIVERSITY
Master of Arts, Painting and Drawing, 1999
Bachelor of Arts, Painting and Drawing, 1996

THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
1993-1994
Concentration: Painting and Drawing

JOLIET JUNIOR COLLEGE
1990-1993

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025
 “The Silence of Light” 33 Contemporary Gallery, Lake Worth Beach, FL

2022
 “Transfiguration” 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL

2021
 “Inception” Lee E. Dulgar Gallery, South Suburban College, South Holland, IL
 “Diaphanous Bodies” 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL

2020
“LIVING: A Pandemic Series: 33 Contemporary Gallery, online

2019
“Parallel Stories” North Central College, Chicago, IL

2018
“16 Day Diptych Series” 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL
“One Dolor: Grafica Migratoria” Museo de la Ciudad de Queretaro, Mexico
“One Dolor: Grafica Migratoria” Museo de la Ciudad de Cuernavaca, Mexico
“Cycles” Muzeul de Arta Cluj, Romania
“The Healing Cycle” Museo Internazionale Italia Arte, Turin, Italy
“Memories” ACS Gallery, Chicago, IL (upcoming)

2017
“In the Shadow of Your Wings” Trinity Christian College, Weaton, IL
“Sergio Gomez” Olivet Nazarene University, IL

2016
“Sergio Gomez: Painting” University of Evansville, IN
“From Here to There” ACS Gallery, Chicago
“It Feels Like I Was Already Here” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“From Here to There” ACS Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Transitional Dwellings” Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
“Sergio Gomez” Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, IL

2015
44 Memories. White Ripple Gallery, Hammond, IN
“Bleeding Border” Galeria Intersección Arte Contemporaneo, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
“A Sign of Light” Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa
“Above & Below” Art NXT Level Projects, Chicago, IL
“Passages” Judson University, Elgin, IL
“The Land In Between” Customs House Museum, Nashville, IL

2014
“Lost & Found” Benedictine University, Lisle, IL

2013
“Puertas Abiertas / Open Doors” National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
“El Otro Lado / The Other Side” Art in Armitage, Chicago, IL

2012
“Parallel Visions” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Physis” ~artspace191, Vienna, Austria
“Physis” Regional Museum of Natural Science in Turin, Italy
“Voyages by Sergio Gomez” Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL

2011
“Sergio Gomez, Solo Exhibition” Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL

2010
“Coram-Deo” The Mary-Frances and Bill Veeck Gallery, Chicago, IL

2009
“Calmness” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL

2008
“Perceived Presence” The Illinois Institute of Art, Schamburg, IL

2007
“Sergio Gomez” Richland Community College, Decatur, IL
“Sergio Gomez” Benedictine College, Lisle, IL
“New Small Works” Imagine Foundation, Jacksonville, IL

2006
“New Paintings” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Selected Works” Lincoln Land Community College, IL
“Undisclosed Presence”, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL

2005
“Sergio Gomez”, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL

2001
“Spiritual Journeys” South Suburban College, South Holland, IL

2000
“Windows of Hope” YMCA Sawyer Center, Hammond, IN

1999
“Sergio Gomez” Paintings & Drawings, Kankakee Community College, Kankakee, IL
“Disclosure, from the Spirit to the Flesh” Governors State University, University Park, IL
“Conversations” Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL

1998
“Reshaping the Self” Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL
“Facing the Spirit” Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN

1997
“Paintings by Sergio Gomez” Park Forest Art Center, Park Forest, IL

1995
“Dialogs of Identity” Governors State University, University Park, IL

TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2019
“Paradigm” Oscar Martinez and Sergio Gomez, Oscar Martinez Fine Art, Chicago, IL

2017
“Gomez/Gonzalez” Water Street Studios Gallery, Batavia, IL

2014
“Gomez/Gonzalez” Gallery 13, Minneapolis, MN
“Gomez/Gonzalez” 33 Contemporary Gallery, IL

2013
“Sergio Gomez & Prado de Fata” Galeria Trueno, Madrid, Spain
“Presence Absence” Sergio Gomez & Mark Zlotkowski, South Shore Arts, Munster, IN

2012
“Presence Absence” Sergio Gomez & Mark Zlotkowski, Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL

2011
“16 Words of Hope & Bipolar World” Sergio Gomez & Petronilla Hohenwarter, Moedling, Vienna
“Presence Absence” Sergio Gomez & Mark Zlotkowski, Krasl Art Center, Michigan, IN
“Presence Absence” Sergio Gomez & Mark Zlotkowski, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN

2010
“Presence Absence” Sergio Gomez & Mark Zlotkowski, Noyes Cultural Art Center, Evanston, IL
“Presence Absence” Sergio Gomez & Mark Zlotkowski, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Javier Chavira, Sergio Gomez: Figurative Works” Robert T. Wright Gallery, College of Lake County, IL

2009
“Judithe Hernandez and Sergio Gomez: Through the Labyrinth”, Chicago State University, IL

2004
“Javier Chavira & Sergio Gomez, New Works” Aguirre Duron Gallery, Chicago, IL

INTERNATIONAL ART FAIRS

2026
“The Palm Beach Show” Palm Beach, FL

2025
“The Palm Beach Show” Palm Beach, FL

2024
“Context/Art Miami” Miami, FL
“Art Wynwood” Miami, FL

2015
“53rd Art Exchange Symposium” – Busan Federation of Art and Culture, (Busan, Korea)

2014
“52nd Busan Art Festival”, (Busan, Korea)
“ArtSpot Miami International Art Fair” Miami, FL
“ExpoChicago” Curatorial Project

2013
“ArtSpot Miami International Art Fair” Miami, FL
“Super Market 2013” Stockholm Independent Art Fair, February 15 to 17, 2013, Sweden

2012
“Miami River International Art Fair” Dec 5 to 9, 2012, Miami, FL

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025
”Figure /Ground” SOBRA Collective, Studio 18 Art Complex, Pembroke Pines, FL
”The Big Bang” Gato Gordo Gallery, Miami, FL

2024
”ECHOES": Weaving Identity and Belonging” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL

2021
”Big/Bold” SUNY College at Brockport, NY

2020
“Ethereal Epiphanies” 33 Contemporary Gallery

2019
“Transformations” BCN101, Barcelona, Spain
“With the Wind” Galeria Arte Enmala, Lanzerote, Canary Islands, Spain
“Resilience” Krasl Art Center, St Joseph, MI, Curated by Tami Miller

2017
“Memoria Presente” National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
“Artists Curators” Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Figurative Allusions”  Curated by Beth Shadur, The Art Center of Highland Park, IL
“Sight Unseen” Abend Gallery, Denver, CO
“Poets & Artists Exhibition” Curated by John Seed. Arcadia Gallery, CA

2016
“From Picaso to Miro to Contemporary Artists” Centre of Modern Art Oud Sint Jan Museum, Belgium
“Tempo/Memoria” Museo Internazionale Italia Arte, Turin, Italy
“5Latino Art of the Midwest” Curated by Judith Huacuja, Dayton University, OH

2015
“Breaking Criminal Traditions” North Central College. Curated by Chuck Gniech
“Pedagogy” Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
“Convergence: The Poetic Dialog Project” Ukranian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL

2014
“Breaking Criminal Traditions” Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Breaking Criminal Traditions” The Art Center of Highland

2013
“Art to Change the World: Inspiring Social Justice” ArtPrize, Grand Rapids, MI
“33 Contemporary Gallery at JJC” Joliet Junior College, Joliet, IL
“Signature Works” National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
“Cultural Symbiosis” Institute of Culture of Baja California, Mexico
“Chicago Artists Interpret Shakespeare” Carthage College, Kenosha, WI

2012
“Bipolar World, Building Understanding Block by Block”, Chicago State University IL
“Spirits Saints and Souls” Tall Grass Arts Association, Park Forest, IL
“Art in US Embassy” Stockholm, Sweden
“Art+Energy+Future” Regional Museum of Natural Science in Turin, Italy
“The City Art Hunt Game” Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Tiriada, Sergio Gomez, Joe Milosevich and Pedro Palacios, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Chicago Artists Interpret Shakespeare” Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL

2011
“Current” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“CelebrARTE” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Tiriada, Sergio Gomez, Joe Milosevich and Pedro Palacios, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL

2010
“In My Own Backyard I Can See The World” International Collaboration Project, Chicago, IL
“The immediate Mark” Zhou B Art Center Main Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Center Line” Curated by Oskar Friedl, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Common Ground, Diverse Approaches: Works on Paper”, Tall Grass Arts Association, Chicago, IL
“Layers and Latitudes” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL

2009
“RADIUS”, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“The Sacred the Spiritual and the Sensual” Tall Grass Arts Association, Park Forest, IL
“Humanity and the Divine Imprint” Bill Veek Gallery, Chicago Theological Union, IL
“The Sacred, the Spiritual & the Sensual” Tall Grass Arts Association, Park Forest, IL
“Raices / Roots” Rene Arceo, Joe Compean, Sergio Gomez”, Kankakee Community College, IL
“Center Line” Curated by Oskar Friedl, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Collective Resonance”, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Faculty Art Exhibition”, South Suburban College, South Holland, IL

2008
“Regional Art Faculty Exhibition”, Governors State University, University Park, IL
“La Vida Sin Fin, Day of the Dead Exhibition” National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
“Reforming Us: Immigration Through Art” Crown Center Gallery, Loyola University, Chicago, IL
“Continnum” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Popping Out, Blending Inn: Identities Defined” Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, IN
“Liturgical & Sacred Art Exhibit” Springfield Arts Association, Springfield, IL
“Muses Revisited” Faculty Art Exhibition, South Suburban College, South Holland, IL
“Harmony, The Art of Music” Traveling Exhibition: Union Street Gallery, McCord Gallery, White Street Gallery, and Tinley Park Public Library, IL
“The Human Form” Imagine Foundation, Jacksonville, IL

2007
“Day of the Dead” Imagine Foundation, Jacksonville, IL
“3rd Annual National Self-Portrait Exhibition, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Transitions” Richland Community College, Richland, IL
“Shared Visions” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Festival of the Arts” University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
“Definitions” Faculty Art Exhibition, South Suburban College, IL
“Regional College & University Art Faculty Exhibition” Governors State University, IL

2006
“Emergence” Lincoln Land Community College, IL
“Emergence” Governors State University, IL
“Emergence” South Suburban College, IL
“Emergence” Prairie State College, IL
“Group Show” EXP Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Day of the Dead Exhibition” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Corpus, Interpretations of the Human Form” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“2nd Annual National Self-Portrait Exhibition” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL

2005
“Expresiones Visuales” Casa de la Cultura Mestizarte, Chicago, IL
“NIU Graduate Group Show, Jack Olson Gallery, DeKalb, IL
“Gallery Preview” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“1st Annual National Self-Portrait Exhibition” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Color Matters” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL
“First Group Show” 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL

2004
“Enlace” Grand Valley State University, MI
“2nd Latin American Art Exhibition” Grand Rapids Community College, MI
“Nueva Luz / New Light” Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN

2003
“Nueva Luz / New Light” Joliet Junior College, IL
“Symbols, Myths and Metaphores”, Columbia College of Chicago, IL

2002
26th Annual Alice & Arthur Baer Art Competition, Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Pintores Mexicanos en Chicago” Arte de Mexico Gallery, Chicago, IL
“A Feast Day for the Souls”, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago, IL
“59th Annual Salon Show”, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN
“Selections from the Permanent Collection” Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, IN

2001
“Dia de Los Muertos” Arte de Mexico Gallery, Chicago, IL
“De Raices Mexicanas” Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL
“Artistas de ATL” Arte de Mexico Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Latino Horizons” Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL
“Cinco de Mayo: Mexican-American Artists” Northern Indiana Arts Assoc. IN

1999
“Al Paso del Tiempo” Day of the Death, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago, IL
“Remembrance, a Celebration of Life” Oak Park Art League, Oak Park, IL

1998
22nd Annual Alice & Arthur Baer Art Competition, Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL
55th Annual Salon Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN
“Altars, Installations & Private Spaces” Governors State University, University Park, IL
“Exhibit of Spiritual Art” Fra Angelico Art Foundation, Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL
4th Annual University Art Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN

1997
“Art Is Where The Home Is” Art Auction, Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, IL
21st Annual Alice & Arthur Baer Art Competition, Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL
Spiritual Art Exhibit, Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL
54th Annual Salon Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN
“Latin American Masters” Aurora Public Art Commission, Aurora, IL
3rd Annual University Art Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN

1996
53rd Annual Salon Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN
Sergio Gomez, Javier Chavira. Paintings & Drawings, Joliet Junior College, Joliet, IL
“Curator’s Choice” International Art Exhibition, Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Sacred Arts Exhibit” Billy Graham Center Museum, Weaton, IL
2nd Annual University Art Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN

1995
“Sacred Arts Exhibit” Billy Graham Center Museum, Weaton, IL
“Exhibit of Spiritual Art” Rosary College, Chicago, IL
“Young Artists of Promise” Park Forest Art Center, Park Forest, IL
1st Annual University Art Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN
52nd Annual Salon Show, Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN
“Latino Artist in Chicago” Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, IN

1994
“The Fantastic” Park Forest Art Gallery, Park Forest, IL
“Art In Italy” Study Tour Exhibition, Governors State University, University Park, IL
“Exhibit of Spiritual Art” Rosary College, Chicago, IL

SELECTED CURATED EXHIBITIONS

2014
“I Am American” Water Street Studios, Batavia, IL
“National Wet Paint MFA Biennial” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL

2013
“Symbiosis Cultural” Instituto de Cultura de Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico
“Curator’s Choice: 10th Annual Self Portrait Exhibition” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Copy.Right: Art of Appropriation” 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL

2012
“Chicago’s Twelve” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Face Mask. Corinna Button Solo Exhibition” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“National Wet Paint Exhibition” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL

2011
“CelebrARTE” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“National Wet Paint Exhibition” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
“8th Annual National Self-Portrait Exhibition”, Zhou Art Center, Chicago, IL
“Get Real. New Figurative Realism in Chicago”, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, IL

2010
“National Wet Paint Exhibition” Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL

HONORS AND AWARDS

2012 Selected as a featured artists for Chicago Artists Month 2012, Chicago, IL
2002 Purchase Award, 26th Annual Alice & Arthur Baer Art Competition, Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL
1998 “Best of Show Award” 22nd Annual Alice & Arthur Baer Art Competition, Beverly Art Center,     Chicago, IL
1997 Second Place, Fra Angelico Art foundation, Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL
Second Place Graduate Award at Governors State University’s Student Art Show, IL
1996 First Place Undergraduate Award at Governors State University’s Student Art Show, IL
1995 Lincoln Laureate Medallion Award, Springfield, IL
First Place, Fra Angelico Art foundation, Rosary College, Chicago, IL
1994 First Place Undergraduate Award at Governors State University’s Student Art Show, IL
Liquitex Excellence in Art University Award.

ART COLLECTIONS

National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
MIIT Museo Internazionale Italia Arte, Turin, Italy
Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, IN
Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL
Imagine Foundation, IL
Fra Angelico Art Foundation, Chicago, IL
Governors State University, University Park, IL
Benedictine University, Wheaton, IL
Joliet Junior College Art Collection, Joliet, IL
Private collections in Canada, Puerto Rico, Paris, Italy and United States.

LIVE ART PERFORMANCES

“Cycle of Life” Calvin College, 2016
“Light of Hope” Dordt College, 2015
“Violated Identity” Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL 2012
USPS Chicago Office, Hispanic Heritage Month Event, Chicago, IL, 2010
Chicago Theological Union, Chicago, IL, 2010
McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, 2009
“Keep The Promise” AIDS Awareness Day, South Suburban College, IL, 2008
“SOMOS” Latino Art Festival, South Suburban College, South Holland, IL, 2008
“IDentidad” Latino Art Festival South Suburban College, South Holland, IL, 2008

GALLERY AFFILIATIONS

33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL

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