Meet Stu­dio Lenca, the unapologetically honest Latin American contemporary artist chosen to create the Iconic Latin American Fashion Awards Trophy. 

Born in El Salvador and unsure of his official date of birth or family history, Studio Lenca grew up as an illegal immigrant in California with his mother where they lived as “illegal aliens” cleaning houses with no fixed address. The sought after artist moved to UK in his adult life and is currently based at Tracey Emin’s TKE Studios.

Studio Lenca’s portraits depict the artist and his community crowned with extravagant hats and vibrant colors, an altogether different sensibility to a childhood of forced assimilation and secrecy.  

Self-assured, proud, courageous and visible, Studio Lenca’s out of proportion works are played by his own rules. An autobiographical story navigating borders and identities destroyed, erased and redrawn. 

Alongside the monumental figures confidently staring out from the canvas and dressed in sharply bold colors, Studio Lenca creates a world where Latinx people are empowered to take up space and tell their own stories.

Studio Lenca works with performance, video, painting and sculpture. He received an MA from Goldsmiths University of London and his work has been the subject of solo shows in galleries in London, Bangkok, Seoul, Brussels and Madrid. Studio Lenca’s work is included in the permanent collection of the Parrish Art Museum in New York where he had a solo exhibition in 2023.