Antonia Wright facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Antonia Wright
Antonia Wright by photographer Monica McGivern
Born	Antonia Wright 1979 (age 46–47) Miami, Florida, US
Nationality	Cuban - American
Occupation	Performance artist, poet, photographer, installation and video artist
Known for	"State of Labor" (2022)

Antonia Wright is a talented Cuban-American artist. She was born in Miami, Florida, in 1979. Wright uses many different art forms, like video, performance, installation, and sculpture. Her art often explores big feelings, control, and how people interact with rules in society. An art critic from Artforum once wrote that the human body is a key part of her artistic explorations.

In 2022, Gotham Magazine recognized Antonia Wright. They named her one of "11 Artists Leading the Country's Cultural Conversation Right Now." This was for her work that looks at important social topics and ideas.

Early Life and Education

Antonia Wright studied Poetry and earned a master's degree from The New School in 2005. She also trained in photography at the International Center of Photography in New York City, graduating in 2008.

Later, Wright continued her art education. She earned a second master's degree in Art Practice from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 2024.

Her Artistic Journey

Antonia Wright is known for creating art that makes people think and feel. She uses her own experiences and observations to explore different aspects of life and society.

Exploring Emotions in Public

Since 2009, Wright has been performing an ongoing art piece called "Are You OK?" For this project, she goes into public places in different cities. She cries while observing how people passing by react to her. This artwork explores human connection and how we respond to others' emotions.

Art with Nature and Movement

In 2013, Wright created a video artwork called "Be". In this video, the artist is covered in 15,000 bees. She performs the slow, graceful movements of tai chi while surrounded by the bees. This piece explores themes of nature, control, and inner calm.

In 2021, Wright showed her artwork called “Not Yet Paved” at the Pérez Art Museum Miami in Florida. For this piece, she turned a large concrete mixer truck into a musical instrument. The truck played the song "Young, Latin, and Proud" by the musician Helado Negro.

Breaking Barriers Through Art

During Art Basel Miami in 2013, Wright performed "Suddenly We Jumped (Breaking the Glass Ceiling)". This performance took place at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. Inspired by the Futurism art movement, Wright threw herself through sheets of glass. This artwork symbolizes breaking through challenges and invisible barriers in society.

Art About Society and Rules

In 2017, Antonia Wright presented an installation called Control at Spinello Projects. This artwork featured metal crowd-control barricades. It explored ideas about rules, safety, and how public spaces are managed. Viewers even had to sign waivers, highlighting the artwork's theme of control and responsibility. The work was inspired by the many barricades Wright saw in Brooklyn, New York, where she completed an artist residency.

Wright's solo show in 2022, “I came to see the damage that was done and the treasures that prevail” at Spinello Projects in Miami, Florida, explored important societal challenges.

In 2024, the Pérez Art Museum Miami presented Antonia Wright: State of Labor. This was a special sound composition. The artwork explored how big changes in laws can affect people's lives and experiences in the country. The sounds in the piece aimed to show the personal impact of these societal shifts.

Exhibitions and Collections

Antonia Wright's art has been shown in many places around the world.

Solo and Two-Person Shows

In 2016, she exhibited the video "Under the Water Was Sand, Then Rocks, Miles of Rocks then Fire" with Luis De Jesus Los Angeles. This video showed the artist walking on and falling into a frozen lake. It was inspired by her own childhood memory of falling into a frozen reservoir near Boston. The art installation also included lights and night-blooming jasmine plants.

Group Exhibitions

Her work has been part of many group exhibitions. These include “You Know Who You Are: Recent Acquisitions of Cuban Art from the Jorge M Pérez Collection,” at El Espacio 23 in Miami, FL (2023). Other shows include “Sinking Feeling” at Or Gallery in Vancouver, Canada (2023). She also participated in “On the Horizon" at The Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee (2022). Her art was also featured in “#fail” at the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, Louisiana (2022).

Art Collections

Antonia Wright's artworks are held in important permanent collections. These include the collection of Martin Z. Margulies, El Espacio 23, and The Lotus House Shelter. Her art is also at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, and NSU Art Museum in Ft. Lauderdale.

Awards and Recognition

Antonia Wright has received several awards and honors for her artistic contributions.

In the fall of 2015, she was an artist-in-residence at Pioneer Works. This is an art center located in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Wright was one of three artists to win the Miami New Times's MasterMind award.

In 2022, during Miami Art Week, Antonia Wright and her collaborator, Ruben Millares, won the No Vacancy Juror’s Choice Award. They received this for their public artwork installed on the beach outside the Faena Hotel.

Wright also won the Ellies 2022 Creator Award. She was named a 2021 CINTAS Foundation Fellowship finalist, an award for artists with Cuban heritage. In 2019-2020, she won a South Florida Cultural Consortium Award. Her work has been featured in New York Magazine in an article about new talent in the New York City art scene.

Making a Difference: Legacy

In April 2012, Antonia Wright started an artist-in-residence program at the Lotus House Shelter in Miami, Florida. This shelter helps women and children. Wright lived there for one month, bringing art and creativity to the community.