El C. received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the painting department at the San Francisco Art Institute and currently lives/works in Queens, New York City - the borough in which he was born and raised. He has received residencies/grants from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, The New York Studio School, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Art Matters, and has recently been awarded a 2008 New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship in the category of painting. El C.’s work has been shown nationally and internationally and is represented by Rhys Mendes Gallery, Los Angeles/Brasil with recent solo exhibitions in New York City, Hartford and Boston.