Karlito Miller Espinosa

Karlito Miller Espinosa (b. San José, Costa Rica, 1989) is an artist who creates objects and composes installations informed by the direct relationship between capitalism and the structuring role violence plays in its preservation. Through an interdisciplinary practice that employs the artist as researcher and material as witness Miller Espinosa’s intention is to unmask predatory strategies of enforcement that have otherwise effectively been rendered invisible. His work is particularly concerned with U.S. policy and its effects on minority, migrant, and working-class populations.

Karlito has received numerous awards and recognition for his artwork, including the University of Arizona 2018 Graduate Student Centennial Achievement Award, the University of Arizona School of Art’s Marcia Grand Centennial Sculpture Award, and the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts 2017 Creative Achievement Award. His work has been exhibited by esteemed institutions around the world including the Newark Museum, El Museo Barrio in Harlem, the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the Street Art Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Twitter’s New York Headquarters, EARTH University (School of Agriculture of the Humid Tropical Region) in Costa Rica, and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in New York. In 2018 he was featured on the BBC’s Documentary Series The Art of Now and was a selected exhibit for the 2018 Arizona Biennial at the Tucson Museum of Art.

Karlito Miller Espinosa graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2012 with a BFA and from the University of Arizona in 2019 with an MFA and is currently a studio program resident for the 2019-2020 Whitney Independent Study Program.