His work takes inspiration from science fiction, illustration and natural history and combines numerous approaches to wide-ranging media such as drawings, painting and sculpture, supported by research on mythology, botany and colonial histories. He trained in visual arts and completed the SOMA educational project in Mexico City. His work has included solo and collective shows in Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal and the United States. Standout solo shows include 2023’s Offerings to the nocturnal hours at CLEARING, in Brussels, Casa de sombras at Pequod.Co in Mexico City, between 2022 and 2023; and Las rodillas del ciprés, from 2022, at the Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro. Beyond the Arenas at the Arizona State University Museum, from 2022 to 2023; Drawing in the Continuous Present at New York’s The Drawing Center, in 2022; and 2020’s Otrxs Mundxs at Mexico City’s Museo Tamayo (2020) figured among the artist’s most notable collective exhibitions. 2022 saw Barrios publish his book of drawings, Buddhist visions of Hell, in collaboration with independent publisher Chez rosi. 

Biombo de la batalla, 2024
Watercolor and ink on paper, mounted on a wooden screen

The series of drawings on cotton paper represents a chaotic battle between fantastical beings inspired by animals and plants. With this work, the artist continues the trajectory that has led him to explore the relationships and tensions between human beings and the plant kingdom. Unlike in previous works, where orchids embody monsters, dark deities, and underworld demons that fight humans, this screen depicts a confrontation without clear armies or sides. This violent confrontation takes on cosmic meaning, like an explosion that creates worlds. In almost illegible handwriting, the back of the screen shows texts taken from the Visión de los vencidos. Relaciones indígenas de la Conquista (Vision of the Defeated. Indigenous Relations of the Conquest.) Also, a series of drawings with recurring motifs from Barrios’ work (belonging to the Buddhist Visions of Hell series) have been placed in different public spaces in León and Guanajuato leading up to the Biennial as posters. Part of the artist’s proposal is establishing a relationship between exhibition spaces and public ones through drawings. 

Buddhist Visions of Hell, 2019 – present
Selection of drawings

These drawings from the series Buddhist Visions of Hell feature recurring elements from Javier Barrios’ work. The drawings have been made into posters hung in public spaces around León and Guanajuato during the Biennial. In conversation with his project Biombo de la batalla, 2024, on display at the Museo de Arte e Historia de Guanajuato, the artist links exhibition and public spaces through drawing.