Mental Contagion
Grimanesa Amorós NYC, NY and Lima, Peru
Grimanesa Amorós is an interdisciplinary artist with diverse intersts in the fields of social history, scientific research and critical theory, which have greatly influenced her work. She often makes use of sculpture, video, lighting and sound to create works that illuminate our notions of personal identity and community. Amorós utilizes her art as an agent for empowerment to involve viewers from all differnt backgrounds and communities. She was born in Lima, and lives and works in New York City and Peru. Amorós studied at The Art Students League (1984-1988) and Private Ateliers in Lima, Peru (1981-1983).
Amorós is the recipient of several grants, which include the National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowship (Washington, DC), The Travel Grant Fund for Artists, NEA Arts International (New York, NY), The Bronx Museum for the Arts Aim Program (Bronx, NY) and The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation “Participant Biennial Competition” (New York, NY). Awards also include the X Tumi USA Award (Miami, FL) and artist residency fellowships by Art Omi (Columbia County, NY), Santa Fe Art Institute (Santa Fe, NM), The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (Amherst, VA), Artspace (Raleigh, NC), and Centrum Arts (Port Townsend, WA). Additionally, her works have been selected for the Art in Embassies Program of the U.S. Department of State in Ankara, Turkey (2001) and Lima, Peru (2003).
Amorós has exhibited in the United States, Europe and Latin America. Most recent solo exhibitions and public work include: Terraforms (Miami, FL), Terrarium (New York, NY), Varna Festival of Visual Arts, 5th edition (Bulgaria), Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture (New York, NY), The Lee Building (New York, NY), Hudson River Healthcare Center (Peekskill, NY), Artspace (Raleigh, NC), BUZZER 30 (New York, NY), ARTCO Gallery, Drawings (Lima, Peru), R&F Gallery Encaustic Panels (New York, NY) and Egizio’s Project, Timeless Terracotta (New York, NY). Most recent group exhibitions include: The Museum of the Americas (Washington, DC), The Lab Gallery (New York, NY), Athens Institute for Contemporary Art (Athens, GA), SITE Santa Fe, Monothon 16 (Santa Fe, NM), Free Manifesta Biennial (Frankfurt, Germany), Liberarti Arts Festival (Liverpool, UK), and Progetto Angioletta Firpo (Alessandria, Italy).
She has participated in many film festivals and art fairs, such as the LOOP Fair in Barcelona, Spain, and has given many artist lectures, most recently at Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, NY), ArtSpace (Raleigh, NC), Sweet Briar College (Sweet Briar, VA), School of Arts ‘Corriente Alterna’ (Lima, Peru), Colgate University (Hamilton, NY), and Spruill Center for the Arts (Atlanta, GA). Amorós often teaches papermaking workshops to children and adults. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Santo Domingo and Cuenca, Ecuador’s museums of modern art.