Lisa Alvarado

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Lisa Alvarado (2018) in Aarhus, Denmark

Lisa Alvarado (born 1982) is an American visual artist and harmonium player.[1][2]

Alvarado is known for her free-hanging abstract paintings.[3] Her works operate as stage sets and artworks simultaneously, and engage with abstraction beyond the parameters of western art history.[4] Alvarado's paintings accompany musical performances as mobile setting for the band Natural Information Society, for which she plays harmonium.[5]

Early life and education[edit]

Alvarado was born in San Antonio, Texas to a Mexican American family.[6][7] She studied at San Antonio College and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[7] Alvarado joined the Natural Information Society in 2010.[8][9]

Artistic practice[edit]

Alvarado's practice bridges visual art and sound to create works that explore the possibilities and nuances of abstraction.[4][10]

She began making her free-hanging works in 2010, as portable sets for the band Natural Information Society, an experimental ensemble of traditional and electronic instruments.[11] Her two-sided works float between categories—they are at once paintings, screens and tapestries that create airy partitions, delineating pathways, evoking both theatrical and ceremonial uses.[11][12][13]

Alvarado's hand-painted compositions consist of sequences that suggest foundational real-world materials: bricks, religious icons, single-celled organisms, the organic systems covering the natural information of life—things of which history and culture are formed.[12][14]

Alvarado's works recall a number of traditions, among them Mexican textiles and European and American Modernist painting, however they build on those sources to become something of their own.[10] Hybridity and in-betweenness are central to Alvarado's practice.[10] Her work calls attention to the idea of mestizaje, which refers to the cultural and ethnic mixing in Mexican history, and is expanded to mean a mixing of ideas and materials as a way to resist or bridge cultural and conceptual divides.[15]

Exhibitions and performances[edit]

Alvarado's work is included in the Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It's Kept, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.[1]

She has also exhibited her work at the Bergen Kunsthall, Norway; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Bridget Donahue, New York; The Modern Institute, Glasgow; KMAC Museum, Louisville. [16][17]

Selected performances include Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago; Big Ears Music Festival, Knoxville; Rewire Festival, Netherlands; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Japan Society, New York; The Common Guild, Glasgow; Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Portugal.[18][19]

Alvarado is represented by Bridget Donahue in New York.[20]

Discography[edit]

with Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Cotter, Holland (May 31, 2022). "A Whitney Biennial of Shadow and Light". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Beckwith, Naomi and Roelstraete, Dieter (2015). "The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now". p. 40. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and University Of Chicago Press.
  3. ^ Fateman, Johanna (November 1, 2020). "Lisa Alvarado". Artforum International Magazine. Vol. 59, no. 2.
  4. ^ a b Kopel, Dana (2 May 2017). "Vibrational Aesthetics: Lisa Alvarado" Mousse Magazine.
  5. ^ Cotter, Holland (27 April 2017). "10 Galleries to Visit Now on the Lower East Side". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Lopez, Mia (2018). Out of Easy Reach. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-9850960-6-9.
  7. ^ a b Beta, Andy (April 22, 2021). "Rooted in Her San Antonio Childhood, Lisa Alvarado's Art Transports and Transforms". Texas Monthly.
  8. ^ Glenn, Allison (2016). "Derrick Adams: ON, Transmission and Interruptions", p.3. Pioneer Works Press, New York.
  9. ^ Alvarado, Lisa (March 2019). "The Inner Sleeve". The Wire UK. 421: 73.
  10. ^ a b c STEINHAUER, JILLIAN (19 August 2020). "3 Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now". The New York Times.
  11. ^ a b The New Yorker (1 May 2017). "Lisa Alvarado". The New Yorker.
  12. ^ a b Bucciero, Joe (1 May 2017). "Lisa Alvarado: Sound Talisman", The Brooklyn Rail.
  13. ^ Saltz, Jerry (16 April 2017). "To Do: April 19-May 3, 2017". New York Magazine.
  14. ^ Spicer, Daniel (September 1, 2019). "Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society". The Wire- Adventures in Sound and Music. 80.
  15. ^ Trouillot, Terence (27 July 2020). "New York roundup". E-FLUX, ART AGENDA.
  16. ^ SCHEPER, MORITZ (6 November 2018). "Lisa Alvarado's Paintings Activate the Canvas as Body". Frieze (200).
  17. ^ Reichert, Elliot (20 March 2015). "Imaginary Landscapes/Mana Contemporary". New City, Chicago.
  18. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (20 April 2017). "Pop, Rock and Jazz in NYC This Week". The New York Times.
  19. ^ Coiro, Alec (17 May 2017). "Sound Activated Art by Lisa Alvarado". Ravelin Magazine.
  20. ^ HEINRICH, WILL (2 May 2019). "At Frieze New York, Islands of Daring". The New York Times.

External links[edit]

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