The Department of Art at University of Virginia is pleased to welcome Abraham Cruzvillegas, Ana Hernández, and José Ángel Santiago to UVA on April 2, 5:30-7:00pm in Campbell Hall 153 for visiting artist lectures and a panel discussion. Each artist will give a short presentation on their work, followed by a discussion moderated by Department of Art faculty members Tatiana Flores (Art History) and LaRissa Rogers (Studio Art). The event is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a reception featuring empanadas from Cumbre and sweets from Baker No Bakery!
Campbell Hall (University of Virginia School of Architecture) is located at 110 Bayly Drive, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903. This program is sponsored by the Arts Endowment grant through the Office of the Provost and the Vice Provost for the Arts, the Institute of the Humanities & Global Cultures, and the UVA Department of Art.
Artist Bios:
Abraham Cruzvillegas (born 1968, Mexico city) is a Mexican conceptual artist, who developed the concept of autoconstrucción(self-construction). His art practice melds incongruent elements through improvisation and unmonitored change in order to probe the ongoing transformation of community—and of his own identity—in the belief that “we go through a long, long path to become ourselves. His work has been part of exhibitions in institutions such as ParaSite, Hong Kong (2024); SFMoMa, San Francisco (2024); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2024); The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (2022); the Honolulu Biennial (2019); the Sydney Biennial (2018); Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte, Mexico City (2018); Kunsthaus Zürich (2018); Ginza Maison Hermès: Le Forum, Tokyo (2017); the Nicaragua Biennial (2016); Tate Modern, London (2015); Sharjah Biennial 12 (2015); Art Sonje, Seoul, (2015); Museo Jumex, Mexico City; Museo Amparo, Puebla (2014); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2014); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2013); Documenta 13, Kassel (2012); the 12th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul (2011); the 6th Seoul Mediacity Biennale (2010); REDCAT, Los Angeles (2009); Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (2008); the 50th Biennale di Venezia (2003); and the 10th Biennial de Havana (1994), among others. In 2016, Harvard University Press published his collected writings ‘The Logic of Disorder.’
Ana Hernández (b. Santo Domingo Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, 1991) is a Mexican visual artist. Graduated from the School of Fine Arts of Oaxaca, from the CEACO Contemporary Art Specialization Clinics, part of her formation was received from the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (IAGO). Her artistic practice focuses on the recovery of the traditional garments of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. With an extensive production of works in which she addresses various techniques from silkscreen printing to wood carving, where textile predominates since she was born and raised in a family dedicated to it, she deals with issues such as migration, language and family based on personal interests that are transferred to the exchange of knowledge from the community. Ana Hernández’s work represents a vindication of art from the original peoples and their contemporary reflection. She has participated in exhibitions such as Arte de los Pueblos de México, Indigenous Disruptions at the Palace of Fine Arts, Los huecos del agua Arte Actual de Pueblos Originarios at the Museo Universitario del Chopo and at the Museo Amparo. Her works and projects have been published in medias such as Harper’s Bazar ART, El País, La Jornada as well as the publication Los Huecos del Agua edited by the Museo Universitario del Chopo.
José Ángel Santiago (Juchitán, Oaxaca, 1990) graduated from the School of Fine Arts of Oaxaca with a specialty in painting. Currently, in his work, he reflects on the forms of nature, stellar phenomena, and his mother tongue within the worldview of the Zapotec culture, as well as its relationship with other cultures. He works with different formats and techniques such as mural painting, drawing, oil, fresco and chalk; sometimes he uses common and ancient materials, as well as high-temperature ceramics and sculpture. He has a special interest in painting as a way of life, thinking that painting seeks to be as pure and eternal as possible. His work has been part of exhibitions and displays at the Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca, the Quetzalli Gallery, and in various museums and galleries in Mexico. He has also worked in countries such as England, Morocco, the United States, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Southeast Asia. In 2017 he resided at the Villa de Arts in Rabat, Morocco, and recently he was awarded the New Mexican Painting Prize in the United Kingdom.