We kick off Season 20 of The Unibrow's Radio Juxtapoz podcast with a conversation with Mexican-American, Los Angeles-based painter, Salomón Huerta.

What started as scheduling a conversation with Huerta around the opening of his solo show Stillness, which opened at Harper's in NYC in the spring, and he and I wanting to catch up after Huerta lost his home in Altadena in the fires that ravaged Southern California in January 2025 became another conversation about fires in LA County: just as we click confirmation on our time to meet up, ICE raids throughout LA had put the city into shock, sparking mass protests, National Guard and Marines being brought to the streets to heighten tensions and has left the Mexican-American community in fear.

Not only did Huerta want to talk about the current climate here but his own personal story of being an immigrant to America. Born in Tijuana, Mexico in 1965, his story is one of a meteoric rise in the fine art world (shows at Gagosian in 2001 just as he left UCLA) to soul-searching after his initial success to now creating some of the most personal works to date.

There is so much of Huerta's story I didn't know, so on this episode of the podcast, I speak with him about the creation of his famed "back of head" portraits, the genesis of the gun paintings and how he began to develop the pool and home works he is know for now. And, of course, we talk about LA, how his community is rattled and what that means for him in the future. From a wild story of John Baldessari's sort-of critique of his MFA work, to an upcoming show at Marc Selwyn Fine Art, this is an honest must-listen. —Evan Pricco

The Unibrow's Radio Juxtapoz podcast⁠ is hosted by Juxtapoz editor, ⁠⁠⁠Evan Pricco⁠⁠⁠. Episode 166 was recorded in Los Angeles on June 11th, 2025. Music by Aesop Rock for The Unibrow

116: Jon Key