Emanuel Leyzaola (also known as Leyzaolo) is a self-taught visual artist from Mexico City, whose origin story is as wild and poetic as his work: he claims to have been raised by stray dogs on the streets of the city. Dividing his time between the urban sprawl and coastal serenity, he lives half the year by the beach, where he draws inspiration from the sea’s ebb and flow.

Leyzaolo studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

His art also reaches more formal spaces: he has held solo exhibitions in punk and underground galleries in both Mexico and Spain, further cementing his reputation as a subversive, outsider voice.

He resists explaining his work, believing that its meaning is best discovered in the dialogue between viewer and piece. His playful, provocative practice revolves around recurrent themes — animals, music, and geopolitics — filtered through a surreal, anarchic, and often humorous lens.

Leyzaolo’s intellectual universe is richly textured: he reads J. G. Ballard novels, listens to cumbia (particularly Los Mirlos), and frequently quotes David Lynch, saying:

“I don’t know why people expect art to make sense when they accept the fact that life doesn’t.”