Candida Alvarez facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Candida Alvarez
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| Born | 1955 |
| Education | Yale School of Art, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Fordham University |
| Known for | Painting, drawing, public art |
| Awards | US Latinx Artist Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Pollock-Krasner |
Candida Alvarez (born 1955) is a talented American artist and a professor. She is well-known for her colorful paintings and drawings.
Her art has been shown in many famous places. These include the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Her works are also part of important public art collections. These include the Whitney and the Art Institute of Chicago.
In 2022, she was named a US Latinx Artist Fellow. She has also received awards from groups like the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. Today, Candida Alvarez lives and works in Chicago and Baroda, Michigan. She teaches painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Candida Alvarez's Early Life and Art Career
Candida Alvarez was born in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents had moved there from Puerto Rico a few years earlier. She grew up in a tall building in a public housing area called Farragut Houses.
Alvarez went to Fordham University in New York. She earned a degree in art and liberal arts in 1977. Later, she studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1981.
In her early career, she worked as a curator at El Museo del Barrio. A curator helps organize art shows. She also showed her art in group exhibitions. These were held at places like the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA PS1. She even had her own shows at Exit Art and the Queens Museum.
Studying Art and Teaching
In 1995, Alvarez went to the Yale School of Art. There, she studied with famous artists like Mel Bochner. Her time at Yale helped her develop her unique style. This style is a fun and playful type of abstract art. She earned her master's degree in fine arts (MFA) in 1997.
The next year, she became a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is now the F. H. Sellers Professor in Painting.
In recent years, Alvarez's art has been part of big art shows. These shows highlight abstract art and Latinx art. Some important exhibitions include "Magnetic Fields" and "Estamos Bien – La Trienal." She has also had solo shows at places like the Hyde Park Art Center.
In 2017, a Japanese fashion designer named Rei Kawakubo used Alvarez's art. The designer adapted six of Alvarez's colorful works. These were used for a special menswear collection by Comme des Garçons.
Awards and Special Recognition
Candida Alvarez has received many important awards for her art. In 2022, she was named a US Latinx Artist Fellow. This award came from the Ford Foundation and Mellon Foundation. She also received an Arts and Letters award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Other groups that have recognized her include the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and the Joan Mitchell Foundation. She also received a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 1994.
Alvarez has also been invited to special artist programs. These are called residencies. She has done residencies at places like the MacDowell Colony and MoMA PS1.
Her artworks are part of many public art collections. These include the Addison Gallery of American Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. Her art can also be found at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum.
She has also created three public art projects. One project, What do you See?, is a set of six stained glass windows. These windows are at a public school in the Bronx. Another project, B is for Birds in the Bronx, features glass windscreens. These are installed at a New York subway station. Her mural, Howlings—Soft Paintings, is on the banks of the Chicago River. It was part of Chicago's Year of Public Art in 2017.
See also
In Spanish: Candida Alvarez para niños
