jacobo  ROA

Jacobo Roa is a Mexican artist that combines all of the visceral elements of his life into mixed media pieces that sparkle with bursts of symbolism and color.   Roa creates abstract work by way of realism; the emotional thing by means of intellectualism; spontaneity by way of strategy. Roa takes the artifacts from everyday culture and transforms them into extraordinary compositions. The imagery in Roa’s work is a collection of messages, poems, letters; scientific formulas, magic recipes, classifications of ants, medicinal plants and herbs; addresses, numbers, cities, arrows, signs, compasses, names and places that inhabit his world; words in Spanish, Nahuatl, Maya, Latin, or English that have no absolute meaning but rather move and connect within his paintings, to be considered as part of a window to their worlds. 

My artistic practice focuses on the exploration of color, cultural identity, and the relationship between artwork, architecture, and public space. My career has developed consistently across Mexico, the United States, and Europe, with an active and sustained presence of over ten years in the city of New Orleans. During this time, I have maintained an ongoing professional relationship with the Angela King Gallery and have presented more than six solo exhibitions, establishing a long-term connection with the city’s cultural landscape.

My work is characterized by a contemporary visual language that integrates symbolic, musical, and cultural references through dynamic compositions and a highly saturated color palette. The conceptual framework of my practice parallels the iconography of New Orleans, particularly in the way music, cultural diversity, and layered traditions construct identity. This connection is both aesthetic and historical, finding a point of convergence between the state of Louisiana and the Yucatán Peninsula—regions that have shared centuries of cultural and musical exchange and were formally recognized as sister cities in 1990.

The foundation of my artistic career is rooted in the Yucatán Peninsula, an influence that is reflected in my chromatic decisions, compositional structures, and visual narratives that combine symbolic elements with a contemporary reading of place. This cultural grounding allows me to develop work that engages organically with multicultural contexts and high-traffic public environments.

In 2025, I was selected to participate in the Mexican Cultural Pavilion during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, where I presented a reproduction of the large-scale mural Catrín, which served as the central piece of the pavilion. This project reinforced my experience working within institutional and high-visibility cultural contexts. As a continuation of this relationship, I am scheduled to present a solo exhibition in May 2026 at the Consulate of Mexico in New Orleans. The exhibition is managed by Angela King—my manager and mentor—Director of the Angela King Gallery, with decades of leadership in the New Orleans arts community.

My experience in muralism and large-scale projects includes collaborations with institutions such as Warner Music and mural interventions in Puerto Progreso, Yucatán, a sister city of New Orleans. These projects involve architectural scale, site integration, public circulation, long-distance legibility, and material durability—key considerations for public art and integrated art programs.

I believe my participation in the artistic program for the New Orleans Convention Center represents a relevant contribution from a cultural, architectural, and urban perspective, integrating work that aligns with the city’s identity and multicultural history.

Jacobo Roa

ARTWORK

Please click on a thumbnail below to view full image.

“Chromatic Mythologies”

Old Spirits and Psicomagos through Roa perspective

Mural to be featured at Jazz Fest 2025 in the Mexico pavilion

Mural “Catrin”

Mixed media on a concrete wall

Location: Mérida, Yucatán

Year: 2017

The mural is inspired by the character “La Catrina,” created by the artist and engraver Guadalupe Posadas (1852-1913). Famous for his drawings depicting everyday life, folkloric scenes, and sociopolitical critique—as well as his illustrations of “calacas” or skulls—Posadas served as an inspiration for the great muralist Diego Rivera, who incorporated his images into some of his most important murals in the mid-20th century.

Based on this idea, the character “Catrin” in Roa’s mural represents a synthesis of Posadas’ characters with Roa’s own vision of what a “dandy” gentleman of society looked like in Mérida, Yucatán during its peak at the beginning of the last century. This period was marked by the economic boom from “enequén” production, the grandeur of lavish haciendas, and the French-style architecture of the Spanish families who dominated this region of Mexico, reminiscent of the atmosphere in New Orleans.

The composition features a “Mexican Cantina,” with bottles of Tequila and Mezcal, a traditional Mariachi, and texts displaying lyrics from popular Mariachi songs. It also includes the image of a Mexican woman wearing a “Charro” hat and agave plants—the Mexican cacti processed for the production of Tequila and Mezcal.

The artwork exudes the colorful and festive style of a Mexican celebration, where music is ever-present through an old phonograph and a guitarist who plays cheerful melodies from behind the bar as the main character enjoys a glass of Tequila.

The piece is located on a terrace in the historic center of the city and has become a must-visit point. Additionally, this mural features a lighting “mapping” system, bringing the characters to life at night as they move in harmony with the music in a dazzling light and sound show.

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