In this episode of What’s My Thesis?, Los Angeles–based painter Elmer Guevara returns to the podcast ahead of his upcoming exhibition at Charlie James Gallery. Known for his densely layered figurative paintings, Guevara reflects on how memory, history, and inherited trauma shape his visual language.

The conversation traces his evolution from graffiti to oil painting, his deep engagement with South Central Los Angeles, and the ways he reconstructs the 1992 Los Angeles uprisings through scenes of everyday life. Blending autobiography with collective history, Guevara explores how painting can act as both a historical record and emotional archive, layering his family’s Salvadoran experience with the city’s shifting social landscape.

Host Javier Proenza and Guevara discuss the aesthetics of the working-class home, the ethics of representing trauma, and the enduring influence of Caravaggio, Bay Area Figuration, and documentary photography on his approach to storytelling. What emerges is a portrait of an artist using realism and symbolism to reimagine how communities remember themselves.

Listen for insights on painting, social history, and the emotional terrain of Los Angeles—then see Guevara’s new work on view at Charlie James Gallery, opening October 25.