JORGE GUTIERREZ

ARTIST AND FILMMAKER

Known for his 2014 Golden Globe-nominated film, “The Book of Life,” animator-filmmaker Gutierrez is also an accomplished painter. The CalArts graduate’s first solo exhibition, “Border Bang,” debuted at Chinatown’s Gregorio Escalante Gallery in July 2016 — but these days, he primarily shows online at Saatchi.com and on his Instagram account (@mexopolis). He often uses the latter to promote other artists. Gutierrez, who grew up in Tijuana and traveled to San Diego every day for school, is passionate about boosting emerging Latin American artists and “helping the culture on both sides of the border,” he says. Often, when Gutierrez is excited about an artist, he shares their imagery with fellow Hollywood directors and showrunners or hires them to work on his own projects: He was smitten with Paraguayan sculptor Esteban Pedrozo Alé’s digital maquettes and commissioned him to work on “Maya and the Three” before the project sold to Netflix. Next up: Gutierrez’s animated Netflix feature, “I, Chihuahua,” starring comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias. And scouring the internet for new emerging artists to champion. “People gave me a shot,” Gutierrez says, “so I want to pay it back.” — D.V.