Born on Madeira Island, Portugal, and living in California since the early 1990’s, Rigo 23 is known for his global artistic practice centered on international solidarity, anticapitalist critique, and the creation of networks of affinity, often with marginalized communities, individuals, and perspectives. During the three decades he was based in the Bay Area, Rigo worked with members of the Chicano Movement; the Black Panther Party and its offspring; AIM and the Indigenous Sovereignty Movement; the LGBTQ community, the Environmental Movement; bicyclists, punks, graffiti writers, youth, and political prisoners. In 2012 he collaborated with over a hundred Zapatista artists from Chiapas, Mexico on the exhibition “Autonomous Intergalactic Space Program” at the CalArts REDCAT gallery. He is also known for his Bay Area murals, and maintains a studio and temporary exhibition practice.
