Chris Cortez is a New York based artist who explores her trans identity in large-scale drawings and oil paintings referencing Mexican heritage, childhood memory, and popular iconography. With an interest in classical portraiture, her work brings feminine figures from video games and pop culture into otherworldly spaces where transformation becomes a way of imagining new possibilities for the self. She is inspired by queer, trans, and Latina icons who have gone against all odds to live as their glamorous, authentic, unapologetic selves.
Cortez received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2022. Recent exhibitions include Beyond the Rainbow at The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach (2025); for love, for art and for being at UTA Artist Space, Los Angeles (2024); and Junto at LMCC Art Center, New York (2024). In 2025, she presented a solo booth at SCOPE Art Show, Miami Beach, and participated in the BolsterArts residency program. Her work is held in the collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, and has recently been featured in Cultured Magazine. Cortez attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2026.