Rafael Vargas-Suarez (b. 1972, Mexico City), more commonly known as Vargas-Suarez Universal, is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Vargas-Suarez was raised in the Houston suburb of Clear Lake City, adjacent to the Johnson Space Center (NASA). From 1991 to 1996 he studied astronomy and art history at the University of Texas at Austin and moved to New York City in 1997. He is primarily known for large-scale wall drawings, paintings, drawings, and sound recordings sourced from the American and Russian manned and unmanned spaceflight programs, astronomy, and aerospace architecture. Post-studio research is conducted in Cape Canaveral, FL; Houston, TX; Korolyov (Moscow), Russia; and Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
His writings have been published by Right Brain Words, New York; Edizioni Charta, Milano and The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA Selected collections include: The Museum of Modern Art Library, Whitney Museum of American Art, El Museo del Barrio, Queens Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Dieu Donne Papermill, Inc. Archives (all in New York); Jersey City Museum, NJ; Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, RI; Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin,TX; Palazzo delle Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena, Italy; DA2 (Domus Artium, 2002) Salamanca, Spain; Winzavod Contemporary Art Centre, Moscow, Russian Federation, and the UBS Art Collection.
Selected collections include: The Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, El Museo del Barrio, Queens Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art Library, Dieu Donne Papermill, Inc. Archives (all in New York); Jersey City Museum, NJ; Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, RI; Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin,TX; Palazzo delle Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena, Italy; DA2 (Domus Artium, 2002) Salamanca, Spain; Winzavod Contemporary Art Centre, Moscow, Russian Federation; and the UBS Art Collection.
