Miguel was born in 1964 in Colima, Mexico. One of Reyes's most vivid childhood memories is that of laying awake at night and listening to the sounds of people scurrying across his front porch as they hid in shadows and edged toward the fence, la linea, separating the U.S. from Mexico. Inevitably, Reyes's family made the trip themselves, deciding to stay in Los Angeles following one of their many “vacations (which meant going to Fresno to pick grapes for the summer).

He was drawn to art early in his life, and graduated from Oits Parsons School of Design in 1987 with a BFA in fine art. After a short sojourn into the fashion industry following graduation, Reyes pursued painting, and today makes his living doing portraits, teaching, illustrating books and taking on occasional public art project commissions. Reyes' work incorporates expressionist brushwork and the saturated palette of the classic latin tradition.

Miguel Angel Reyes' art has been exhibited throughout the U.S. Miguel has created murals for the Los Angeles MTA and the bus ad campaign for LA County Office of AIDS - AIDS/Living Responsibly campaign. Miguel’s work is in the collections of LACMA print collections, Laguna Art Museum, Watts Towers Arts Center, University of Austin, TX, and Fine Arts gallery Museum, Chicago. Miguel has been the recipient of the 2001 CSW Artists of the Year, 2000 & 2008 WEHO Awards/Artist, 1998 VIVA Arts Award and the 1992 VOGUE/SOTHEBY’S Cecil Beaton Award. Reyes has been a drawing professor at Otis College of Art and Design since 2005.