Frances Gallardo
"One of the things I think I've created with paper is to demistify it from this fragile and perishable thing; precisely because the mayority of the works I do with paper are efimerous so it doesn't matter if they are going to be decomposed. It's just part of the process".
DESCRIPTION
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1984. Visual artist based in New York and San Juan.
The work of Frances Gallardo incorporates the medium of paper and its infinite uses in the creation of art. She works it majestically into forms of hurricanes, landscapes and buildings; all worked with detail and perfection. Since childhood, Frances has been fascinated with atmospheric events such as hurricanes and even though the chaos they cause, she sees beautiful forms, musical compositions, colors and movement. In her first solo show in Puerto Rico, Meteoro; she focused on the beauty of these systems presented in big paper pieces with an embroidery look resembling a knitting technique called Mundillo, a craft of handmade bobbin lace cultivated and honored in Puerto Rico.
EDUCATION
2016
MFA Cornell University, NY.
2009-10
Art Students League of New York.
2008
BA in Fine Arts and Humanities, University of Puerto Rico.
2005
BA student exchange program. Faculty of Fine Arts, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
RESIDENCIES, WORKSHOPS and CONTINUED EDUCATION [selection]
2018
Tompkins County Public Library Residency Program. New York, USA.
2012-13
Artist-in-Residence. The Center for Book Arts, New York, NY.
2011-12
"La Practica", Beta Local, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2010
Direct woodcarving, Lorrie Goulet Studio, NY.
2009
Artist-in-Residence. Papelón, paper mill, San Juancito, Honduras [interrupted by government’s coup d’etat].
EXHIBITIONS and PROJECTS [selection]
2018
'PM'. Embajada. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2015
Frescos: Ciudadanos de Ninguna Parte (5 años después). Galería Arte Universidad Sagrado Corazón. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
IV Trienal Poligráfica de San Juan. Arsenal de la Marina Española. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Solo Show. Conduit. April 20-24. Experimental Gallery, Tjaden Hall, Cornell University, NY.
2014
Prospective: MFA Group Show. Tjaden Gallery, Cornell University, NY.
Caribbean: Crossroads of the World. Perez Art Museum Miami, USA.
Taller Vivo: Unicornio en la isla: 100 años de Lorenzo Homar. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, PR.
Meteorology (solo show) The Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA.
2013
Lexus Emerging Artist Grant 2012 Show. Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR.
Meteoro (solo show). Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, PR.
Muestra Nacional de Puerto Rico. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, PR.
2012
Artist-in-Residence Exhibition. The Center for Book Arts of New York. USA.
Puerto Rico: puerta al paisaje. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, San Juan, PR
The Beehive [El panal] III Polygraphic Triennial of San Juan and the Caribbean. Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, San Juan, PR (Featured project: 'Huracán').
Caribe Now, Contemporary Art from the Caribbean Diaspora. Organized by El Museo del Barrio. Nathan Cummings Foundation, NY, USA.
AWARDS and NOMINATIONS
2012 - Lexus with the Arts 2012 Grant.
2010 - Nomination Emerging artist grant 2010 Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation. Miami, USA.
2008 - Excellency Award, Department of Drawing, University of Puerto Rico, PR.
COLLECTIONS
El Museo del Barrio, New York, USA.
Federal Reseve Bank of New York, USA.
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico.
Private Collections: Puerto Rico, BVI, USA.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Humberto Figueroa. Entre unicornios. Vision Doble. May 2014.
Rosario Romero Escribano. Receta para un performance de Frances Gallardo. Visión Doble. March 2014.
Meteoro (solo show catalogue). Essays by Elvis Fuentes and Ingrid M. Jiménez. San Juan, PR. 2012.
Ingrid M. Jiménez, Transformation through paper [“Transformación a través del papel”] Diálogo, Nov-Dec, University of Puerto Rico, 2009, p. 18.