Alicia Paz is an artist based in London, working internationally. Born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, Paz graduated from

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

of Paris,

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

and

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

London. Over several years, Alicia Paz has focused on the tension between artifice/ illusion and the veracity of actual processes involved in

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

, exposing the duplicitous nature of representation. Through her work, she explores notions of

hybridity Hybridity, in its most basic sense, refers to mixture. The term originates from biology and was subsequently employed in linguistics and in racial theory in the nineteenth century. Young, Robert. ''Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and R ...

, assemblage, and

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...

, focusing particularly on the female figure: the self is experienced and presented as multiple, fluid, paradoxical. Paz's paintings are as much

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s as they are

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

s, combining references that range from erudite painting or the history of the painted image, to citations of advertising images or comics. Inhabiting fantastical and exotic landscapes, Paz's feminine subjects become fused and combined with organic life. Strange and unsettling visions of tree-women and monster-women also represent the fusion of the subject with ''

'' itself: she often depicts amphibian or plant-like figures “weeping” pigment, their limbs, hair, and various ornamental

accoutrements Accoutrements are the personal/individual equipment of service people such as soldiers, sailors, police and firemen and employees of some private organizations such as security guards, other than their basic uniform and weapons.In American English ...

mud-caked and dripping, as if extracted from a colourful, post-cognitive swamp. In August 2017 Paz unveiled her first public sculpture commission at in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

, titled ''Insel der Puppen (Island of Dolls),'' in steel and enamel. Paz is working on a larger

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

and production project exploring the network of women that are playing an important rule in her life, personally and professionally. Her project is supported by the

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

. She developed her research it into three exhibition, each specifically adapted to the location and with new work for each show. The first installation was ''Río y Mar (River and Sea)'' at the

Beecroft Art Gallery Beecroft Art Gallery is a gallery in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. Prior to 2014, the gallery was formerly located in and Edwardian building on Station Road at Westcliff-on-Sea which was donated to the people of Southend-on-Sea in 1952 by W ...

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, part of ''Estuary 2021'', followed by ''River Makers'' at the Visual Arts Centre in

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...

, both in 2021, and finally ''Juntas (Together)'' at the in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in early 2022.

Selected works

*''Island of Dolls'' (Insel der Puppen), 2017, large exterior sculpture in email, steel and concrete, a commission for the Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen in Magdeburg *''L'effrontée'', 2011, mixed media on paper, 74 × 56 cm *''Trapèze'', 2010, oil, acrylic, collage on canvas 200 × 160 cm (

FRAC Frac or FRAC may refer to: * Frac or fraccing, short name for Hydraulic fracturing, a method for extracting oil and natural gas * FRAC Act, United States legislation proposed in 2009 to regulate hydraulic fracturing * Frac module, a format for ...

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and ...

collection) *''When the Machine Stops'', 2006, oil, acrylic, collage on canvas, 130 × 97 cm (Colección Costantini,

MALBA The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires ( es, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, MALBA) is a museum located on Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, in the Palermo section of Buenos Aires. Created by Argentine businessman Eduardo Costantini ...

Museum, Buenos Aires, Argentina) *''Ghosts'', oil, acrylic on canvas, 200 × 160 cm, 1999 (FRAC

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

collection) *''Colossus'', 1995, acrylic on canvas, 150 × 120 cm (FMAC Paris collection)

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions (selection)

2022: , Paris, ''Juntas'' 2021: Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, ''River Makers'' 2021:

, Southend-on-Sea, ''Río y Mar (River and Sea)'' 2010: LAC Narbonne, in association with FRAC Languedoc-Rousillon for ''Casanova Forever'',

Sigean Sigean (; oc, Sijan) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. It formerly laid on ''Route nationale'' 9 between Narbonne and Perpignan, but RN 9 (downgraded to ''route départementale'' 6009) now bypasses the town of Sigean and ...

France 2007: Unit 2 Gallery,

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (f ...

, London UK 2006: Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK 2005: Ruth Benzacar Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2000: Galerie Yvonamor Palix, Paris, France

Group exhibitions (selection)

2021:

, Southend UK, ''Río y Mar'' (River and Sea), as part of ''Estuary 2021'' 2012: ''Through the Looking Glass'', The Agency Gallery, London, UK 2011: ''Round and Round and Round (Part 2)'', exhibition drawn from the FRAC IDF Collection, curated by Xavier Franceschi, Parc culturel de Rentilly, France 2009: ''Multiverse'', curated by Ole Hagen, Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London, UK 2008: '' Jerwood Contemporary Painters'', Jerwood Space, London, UK 2007: ''Celeste Art Prize'', selected by

Curating MA, London, UK 2007: Incheon Biennale, Incheon, South Korea 2006: '' John Moores 24'', selectors: Peter Blake,

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Associate of the Royal Academy, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawi ...

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

Liverpool Biennial Liverpool Biennial is the largest international contemporary art festival in the United Kingdom. Every two years, the city of Liverpool hosts an extensive range of artworks, projects, and a programme of events. The biennial commissions leading ...

, UK 2004: '' EAST International'', selectors:

Neo Rauch Neo Rauch (born 18 April 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany; ) is a German artist whose paintings mine the intersection of his personal history with the politics of industrial alienation. His work reflects the influence of socialist realism, and owes ...

, Gerd Harry Lybke, Norwich, UK ''2004: Mind the Gap, 10 London Artists'', sponsored by

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

, Marseille, France 1999: ''ZAC 99'', collaboration directed by "Bureau d'Etudes" and Jota Castro, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France 1998:'' Tamayo Museum Biennale'', Oaxaca, Mexico

Awards, grants and residencies

2022:

Cité internationale des arts The Cité internationale des arts is an artist-in-residence building complex which accommodates artists of all specialities and nationalities in Paris. It comprises two sites, one located in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. Approximately ...

, Paris 2022: residency at the Leonora Carrington Museum, Mexico 2002: Triangle France, Artist's Residency, La Friche de la Belle de Mai, Marseilles, France 2002:

, Artist's Residency in Paris 2001:

Gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

Artist's Residency, London, UK 2001: Grant awarded by

Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes The National Endowment for Culture and Arts (''Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes,'' FONCA) is a public agency of the Mexican federal government, attached to the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta). Funding for FONCA comes ...

, Mexico 1999: Delfina Studio Trust Residency, London, UK

Collections

Musée d'Art Moderne de Céret Le Musée d'Art Moderne de Céret is a modern art museum in Céret, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, created by Pierre Brune and Frank Burty Haviland in 1950 with the personal support of their friends Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse who were involv ...

, France * Hanlim Museum, Daejeon, Korea * FMAC City of Paris, France * * FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon * Colección Costantini,

, Buenos Aires, Argentina *

APT Apt. is an abbreviation for apartment. Apt may also refer to: Places * Apt Cathedral, a former cathedral, and national monument of France, in the town of Apt in Provence * Apt, Vaucluse, a commune of the Vaucluse département of France * A ...

, Mexico City

References

Further links

*
Alicia Paz, Website of the artist
*Uwe Gellner, Annegret Laabs, Jeannette Louie. ''Alicia Paz - The Garden of Follies''. ''V''erlag für Moderne Kunst, Vienna, 2016. * * * *

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paz, Alicia 20th-century Mexican painters 21st-century Mexican painters British women painters Mexican women painters Artists from Mexico City Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London University of California, Berkeley alumni Alumni of the Royal College of Art École des Beaux-Arts alumni Living people 1967 births 20th-century British women artists 21st-century British women artists 20th-century women painters 21st-century women painters