The MACC is excited to announce our next exhibition by César A. Martínez in the Main Gallery. El Otro Camino: An intimate portrait of César A. Martínez is the first large scale comprehensive exhibition by the renowned Chicano artist in the El Paso border region. Assembled from work created between 1975 – 2024, mainly from the artist’s personal collection, El Otro Camino offers an intimate glimpse into Martínez’s prolific career spanning paintings, prints, collage, photography, and mixed media assemblage. Including rare pieces from the Batos y Rucas, Serape, Mestizo, and South Texas series of works showcasing Martínez’s diverse artistic practice.

Best recognized for the vivid frontal portraits of the 'batos", “pachucos” and "rucas" that populated the barrios of his youth, his imagery is often biographical in nature, reflective of a trajectory along the U.S.-Mexico border and involvement in the collective action of the Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960’s and 70’s.

César A. Martínez was born in Laredo, Texas in 1944. He began his career when Hispanic art was rarely represented in museums, yet his work is now held by major institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York; The Cheech Center, Riverside, California; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; the San Antonio Museum of Art; and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago. El Otro Camino is guest curated by Diana Molina and will be on view through January 24, 2027.