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 in 1955) is an American artist and a professor. She is well-known for her amazing 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 artworks are also part of public collections. You can find them at the Art Institute of Chicago and the San Jose Museum of Art. In 2022, she was named a US Latinx Artist Fellow. She has also received awards from important art foundations. Candida Alvarez lives and works in Chicago and Baroda, Michigan. She teaches painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Contents
About Candida Alvarez
Early Life and Education
Candida Alvarez was born in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents came from Puerto Rico two years before she was born. She grew up in a tall building in a public housing project.
Alvarez went to Fordham University in New York. She earned a degree in art and liberal arts in 1977. She also studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1981.
Starting Her Art Career
When she first started her career in New York, Alvarez worked as a curator. This means she helped organize art shows at El Museo del Barrio. Her art was shown in group exhibitions at places like the Brooklyn Museum. She also had her own art shows. These included shows at the Queens Museum in 1991.
In 1995, she 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. She became known for a fun and playful kind of abstract art. She earned her master's degree in fine arts in 1997.
Teaching and Later Exhibitions
The next year, in 1998, Alvarez started teaching. She became a professor of painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In recent years, her art has been part of big exhibitions. These shows have focused on abstract art and Latinx art. Her solo exhibitions have been held at places like the Chicago Cultural Center in 2017.
In 2017, a Japanese fashion designer named Rei Kawakubo used Alvarez's art. The designer adapted six of Alvarez's colorful artworks. These were used for a special menswear collection by Comme des Garçons.
Awards and Recognition
Major Awards and Fellowships
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 the Mellon Foundation. She also received an Arts and Letters award in Art. This was from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
She has also been recognized by other foundations. These include the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in 2021. The Joan Mitchell Foundation also honored her in 2019. She received an award from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 1994.
Artist Residencies and Public Art
Alvarez has been invited to special artist residencies. These are places where artists can focus on their work. Some of these include the MacDowell Colony and MoMA PS1.
Her art is part of many public collections. You can see her work at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum. She has also created art for public spaces.
One of her public art projects is called What do you See?. These are six beautiful stained glass windows. They were made for a public school in the Bronx, New York. Another project is B is for Birds in the Bronx from 2006. This project features glass windscreens at a train station in New York. In 2017, she created Howlings—Soft Paintings. This was a large mural installed along the Chicago River.
See also
In Spanish: Candida Alvarez para niños
