Alicia Paz
Alicia Paz is an artist based in London, working internationally. Born in Mexico City, Paz graduated from UC Berkeley, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts of Paris, Goldsmiths College and Royal College of Art London[1] .
Over several years, Alicia Paz has focused on the tension between artifice/ illusion and the veracity of actual processes involved in painting, exposing the duplicitous nature of representation. Through her work, she explores notions of hybridity, assemblage, and metamorphosis, focusing particularly on the female figure: the self is experienced and presented as multiple, fluid, paradoxical. Paz's paintings are as much portraits as they are landscapes, combining references that range from erudite painting or the history of the painted image,[2] to citations of advertising images or comics.[3] Inhabiting fantastical and exotic landscapes, Paz's feminine subjects become fused and combined with organic life. Strange and unsettling visions of tree-women and monster-women also represent the fusion of the Subject with painting itself: she often depicts amphibian or plant-like figures “weeping” pigment, their limbs, hair, and various ornamental accoutrements mud-caked and dripping, as if extracted from a colourful, post-cognitive swamp.
In August 2017 Paz unveiled a public sculpture commission at Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen in Magdeburg, titled Insel der Puppen (Island of Dolls), in steel and enamel[4]. Paz's recent projects include a residency and exhibition at the Leonora Carrington Museum in Mexico (2019) and an upcoming solo exhibition at the Maison de l’Amérique Latine in Paris (2020).
Selected works
- Island of Dolls (Insel der Puppen), 2017, large exterior sculpture in email, steel and concrete, a commission for the Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen in Magdeburg
- L'effrontée, 2011, mixed media on paper, 74 × 56 cm
- Trapèze, 2010, oil, acrylic, collage on canvas 200 × 160 cm (FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon collection)
- When the Machine Stops, 2006, oil, acrylic, collage on canvas, 130 × 97 cm (Colección Costantini, MALBA Museum, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- Ghosts, oil, acrylic on canvas, 200 × 160 cm, 1999 (FRAC Île-de-France collection)
- Colossus, 1995, acrylic on canvas, 150 × 120 cm (FMAC Paris collection)
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions (selection)
2010:
2007:
- Unit 2 Gallery, London Metropolitan University, London
2006:
- Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK
2005:
- Ruth Benzacar Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina[6]
2000:
- Galerie Yvonamor Palix, Paris, France
Group exhibitions (selection)
2012:
- Through the Looking Glass, The Agency Gallery, London, UK
2011:
- Round and Round and Round (Part 2), exhibition drawn from the FRAC IDF Collection, curated by Xavier Franceschi, Parc culturel de Rentilly, France
2009:
- Multiverse, curated by Ole Hagen, Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London, UK[7]
2008:
- Jerwood Contemporary Painters, Jerwood Space, London, UK[8]
2007:
- Celeste Art Prize, selected by Goldsmiths College Curating MA, London, UK
- Incheon Biennale, Incheon, South Korea[9]
2006:
- John Moores 24, selectors: Peter Blake, Tracey Emin, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Biennial, UK
2004:
- EAST International, selectors: Neo Rauch, Gerd Harry Lybke, Norwich, UK[10]
- Mind the Gap, 10 London Artists, sponsored by British Council, Triangle, Marseille, France
1999:
- ZAC 99, collaboration directed by "Bureau d'Etudes" and Jota Castro, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
1998:
- Tamayo Museum Biennale, Oaxaca, Mexico
Awards, grants and residencies
2002:
- Triangle France, Artist's Residency, La Friche de la Belle de Mai, Marseilles, France
- Cité internationale des arts, Artist's Residency in Paris
2001:
- Gasworks Artist's Residency, London, UK[11]
- Grant awarded by Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Mexico
1999:
- Delfina Studio Trust Residency, London, UK
Collections
- Musée d'Art Moderne de Céret, France
- Hanlim Museum, Daejeon, Korea
- Vitry-sur-Seine, France
- Valognes, France
- FMAC City of Paris, France
- FRAC Île-de-France
- FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon
- Colección Costantini, MALBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Lafuma, France
- Schlumberger, France
- APT, Mexico City
References
- "Show catalogues of graduate student work at the Royal College of Art". Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- Charlesworth, JJ; Galerie Dukan&Hourdequin (2009). Alicia Paz: Unfinished Subjects. Marseille, France: Monografik Editions. ISBN 978-2-36008-003-8.
- Lamy, Frank (2004). 3D, Alicia Paz, Andreas Hirsch, Samuel Choisy. Porto, Portugal: Maus Habitos.
- "2017 | Kunstmuseum Kloster unser lieben Frauen Magdeburg". kunstmuseum-magdeburg.de. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- Latreille, Emmanuel (2010). Casanova Forever: 33 Expositions en Languedoc Roussillon (in French). Paris: Dilecta. ISBN 978-2-916275-72-7.
- Hunt, Andrew (2005). Alicia Paz. Buenos Aires: Ruth Benzacar Gallery.
- Hagen, Ole; Poulson, Kit (2009). Multiverse. London: Danielle Arnaud Contemporary Art.
- Jerwood Charitable Foundation (2008). Jerwood Contemporary Painters. London.
- Incheon Culture and Arts Center (2007). Knocking on the Door: International Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale. South Korea: Incheon Metropolitan City.
- Mason, Andrea (September 2004). "East International". a-n Magazine.
- "Gasworks Residencies". Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
Further reading
- Uwe Gellner, Annegret Laabs, Jeannette Louie. Alicia Paz - The Garden of Follies. Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Vienna, 2016. ISBN 9783903004917
- Website of the artist
- Deyries-Henry, Dorothée (2008). Permutations, 40 Artistes 01 musée vide. Musée de Valence.
- Charlesworth, JJ (May 2007). "Alicia Paz". Time Out London.
- Malherbe, Anne (December 2006). "Je revais d'un autre Monde". art press.
- Lamy, Frank (August 2002). "Peinture, La Galaxie Française". Gazette des Beaux-Arts (219).
- Piguet, Phillipe (May 2000). "Alicia Paz". L'ŒIL.'.
- Lamy, Frank (May 2000). "Alicia Paz". Tribeca Magazine.