by Edra Soto
video and installation
Opening Friday January 21, 2005
from 6pm-10pm
Jan 21-Feb 19, 2005
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MEMORIAL expands on the documentation series that I am using to cover the year 2004.
My show, titled 2004: A Year in Review, and currently on display at University of Illinois’ Gallery 400 through January 29th, directly relates to MEMORIAL, the exhibition at Polvo Art Studios opening January 21st.
In the front yard of Gallery 400, there is a small, not so imposing mound of dirt. Buried inside that mound (titled: Landfill) are all the newspapers that were used to create the documentation.
Polvo will be presenting an installation of over 300 pictures. Each picture is a 6”x4” portrait of the front of the newspaper that is now inside the landfill.
MEMORIAL responds to the practiced ritual of placing a picture of a deceased or missing person in the space where the accident occurs or in an altar designed to be filled out with pictures.
Symbolically, MEMORIAL pays tribute and remembers all the ones that died during the last year.
The video MEMORIAL is the last piece of the 2004: A Year in Review series.
A solo violin plays a haunting melody while simultaneously, all the covers of the newspapers from the year 2004 fade in and out (Suzanne Roberts on the violin).
The music is an interpretation of a composition made by the film composer Nick Glenne-Smith, evoking the sentimental manipulations of a Hollywood movie. Played in the video by Suzanne Roberts, it sounds like a typical melody that you can find in your standard Hollywood film while watching from the climax to the credits.
Nevertheless, it is important to say that the tragedies and deaths that occurred during this last year, are indeed sentimental, emotional, disappointing, and just plain sad.
Edra Soto
2004-2005
Edra's students
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E D R A S O T O
edrasoto@hotmail.com
EDUCATION
2000 Master of Fine Arts, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago,
IL
1997 Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1995 One-year painting fellowship at Alfonso Arana’s art studio, Alfonso Arana’s
Foundation, Paris
1994 B.F.A., Escuela de Artes Plasticas de Puerto Rico, Institute of Puerto Rican Culture,
San Juan, PR
RESIDENCIES
2004 M&M Proyectos, San Juan, PR
2000 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Trustee’s scholarship in conjunction with
The School of the Art institute of Chicago, Skowhegan, Maine
AWARDS
2003 Community Arts Assistance Program Grant, The City of Chicago Department of Cultural
-01 Affairs, Chicago, IL
1997 Art work commissioned for traveling exhibition Maletas Culturales, Museo de Arte
Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2005 Sub-City projects, curated by Candida Alvarez, Chicago, (upcoming)
A Year in Review (gallery project) and Landfill (complementary public project), At The Edge series, curators:
Tricia Van Eck, Julia Fish, Barbara Weisen, Lorelei Stewart and Marc Fischer, Gallery 400, UIC, Chicago
Memorial 2004, Polvo, Chicago
2004 Documentos, La Pintadera, PR (upcoming)
2003 Rhythm Nation, Polvo, Chicago
One Vision: Hollywood Soldiers(Public Art Project) Bite, Chicago
2001 Ordinary, Dogmatic Gallery, Chicago
1997 Selvatica, Galeria Botello, Hato Rey, PR
1996 Souvenirs, Galeria Botello, Hato Rey, PR
1995 La Natura en Mi, Galeria Botello, Hato Rey, PR
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2005 City Selections, Tourism Center, organized by Nathan Mason, Chicago
The Nomadic Circus Experience and Other’s Delights, Track House, Illinois.
Group Show(upcoming) NIU Museum, Chicago
2004l Don’t Call it Performance / No le llames Performance, curators: Paco Barragan and Deborah Cullen,
(Including live presentation on opening night), Museo del Barrio, New York
POP, curators: Myra Casis and Meg Sheehy, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
Good and Bad Things Come from Explosions, curators: Heather Hubbs and Lorelei Stewart,
for the 2nd Annual PAC/edge performance festival, The Atheneum Theater, Chicago
Stray Show w/ Polvo, Thomas Blackman Associates, Chicago
Theft, Polvo, Chicago
2003 Low Riders, Polvo, Chicago
Muestra Nacional, Arsenal de la Marina, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena. PR
Puerto Rico and Colombia: Caribbean Connection, Tinta Roja, Chicago
The Art Of Teaching, CPS and Gallery 32, Chicago
Polvo @ The Butcher Shop,The Butcher Shop Chicago
TERRORIST ART: Protesting War, POLVO, Chicago
Corazonada, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco
2002 Law Office ‘Garden’ The Stray Show, Chicago
V Certamen Nacional Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico
Comunity Day, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York
Re-Main. Spareroom , Chicago
Amanecer de Mujeres, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
2001 Latino Horizons, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
Harper College 24th National Exhibition: Small Works, IL
Snapshot, The Contemporary Museum, Maryland
2000 Site Works, Gallery 312, Chicago
International Contest of Olympic Art, Olympic Museum, Lasssane, Switzerland
Puerto Rico en Paris, APAP, AIAP-UNESCO, Paris
1999 Primer Certamen Arte Joven, Museo de Arte de Ponce, PR
Son Seis, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance and Chicago Park District, IL
Smart Living, FGA space, Chicago
1998 Belongings, Roger Brown Gallery, Chicago
Group Show, The Butcher Shop, Chicago
Invited Participant for the Alfonso Arana’s art contest, Museo de Arte e Historia, PR
1995 Third National Art Competition, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, PR
1994 Second Biennial of Painting of the Caribbean and Central America, Museo de Arte
Moderno, Republica Dominicana
Second Biennial of Art, Museo Casa Roig, Humacao, PR
CURATORIAL WORK
2004 The Crappiest Show, Quimby’s book store, Chicago
1999 Glam Salon, Student Union Gallery, SAIC, Chicago
PERFORMANCES
2004 Motion Picture (upcoming) video
2003 Rhythm Nation – 3 movements, 3 hours: The drummer , The chain smoker and the stationary
bike exerciser – Live at El Museo del Barrio, New York, Domus Artium 2002, Salamanca, Spain
(2004) and Polvo, Chicago
2000 Lucy en Pop – Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine.
Baby , Baby, Baby – Performance graduation,The School of the Art Institute. Chicago
1999 The I Love Chicago Project – Studio 1720, Painting Department, SAIC, Chicago
Tamer sequence – Slide carousel sequence project.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2005 Hannum, Terence “Edra Soto Documentation 2004: A Year in Review”, Panel-House,(January) IL
Luo, Jean, “UIC gallery strives to give artists free-range for exhibits” The daily Northwestern, (January) IL
2004 Perez Ruiz, Jose A., “La Estetica Vanguardista de Edra Soto”, El Vocero,(August). PR
Zoltak, Benjamin, “POP at Woman Made” Centerstage, Chicago
2003 Zoltak, Benjamin. “Polvo Art Studio: Rhythm Nation” Centerstage, Chicago
2002 Velez, Pedro. “Edra Soto at Dogmatic” Ten By Ten Magazine (May)
Cassidy, Victor M. “Prairie Smoke” artnet.com Magazine Reviews (January).
2001 Velez, Pedro. “FGA Top 10” FGA Space (December). IL
Rodriguez, Elbio, “Fascinated by Ordinary Life” Arena Cultural, La Raza (November) IL
Volpe, Jessica. “Art Picks…” UR Chicago, (December) IL
2000 Tolentino, Marianne. “Anthology of Puerto Rican Art”, Art Nexus (November)
Vicens, M. ”Arte Boricua en la UNESCO”, El Nuevo Dia (September). PR
Hawkins, Margaret. “Putting Up Fun”, Chicago Sun Times (March). IL
Recommend, New Art Examiner (March)
1999 Por Dentro editorial. “Certamen de Arte Olimpico”, El Nuevo Dia (November). PR
1997 Alvarez Lezama, Manuel. “A Mix of Poetry, Passion and Virtual Reality”, The San Juan
Star (September). PR
Alegre Barrios, Mario. “De Viaje el arte del MAC”, El Nuevo Dia (April). PR
1996 Alegre Barrios, Mario. “Alado el Sueno de Arana”, El Nuevo Dia (February). PR
Alegre Barrios, Mario. “Nuestros Artistas de Hoy”, El Nuevo Dia (March). PR
Alegre Barrios, Mario. “Comunion de Talentos Frente al SIDA”,El Nuevo Dia(November).PR
Alvarez Lezama, Manuel. “New Wings Lift Artists to Greater Levels”, San Juan Star
(November). PR
1995 Alegre Barrios, Mario. “La Naturaleza de Edra Soto”, El Nuevo Dia (May). PR
Alvarez Lezama, Manuel. “Insightfull Innocence”. The San Juan Star (May). PR
Garcia Gutierrez, Enrique. “Edra Soto, una primera muestra bien lograda”, El Nuevo Dia (June). PR
Sepulveda H.,Manases. “Segunda Bienal de Pintura del Caribe y Centroamerica”, Listin Diario (November). DR
1994 Alvarez Lezama, Manuel. “Caribe Biennial Brims with talent”, The San Juan Star (December)
COLLECTIONS
2005 Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico and private collectors in PR and USA
BENEFITS
2004 Contratiempo – Mexican Fine Arts Museum, Chicago
2001 The 2001 Fun Show-presented by Uncle Fun – Sotheby’s, Chicago
Firewire - Street-Level Youth Media Benefit 2001 - The Hot House, Chicago
Alumni Exhibition and Auction - Skowhegan’s 21th Century Scholarship fund - Knoedler
Gallery, New York
Sarah’s Circle - Swedish American Museum, Chicago
COVERS (CD’s, BROCHURES, PUBLICATIONS)
2004 The Rite of Spring ,The Butcherchop Quartet (art) Chicago
2003 Contratiempo (newspaper) – Drawings by Edra Soto (#7, Nobember 2003) Chicago
2002 Iron Night, Nad Navillus – JagJaguwar (photography and illustration)
Community Arts Assistance Program Grant (cover’s photograph) Chicago
2001 Show Your Face, Nad Navillus – JagJaguwar (illustration)
1999 Skeeter Pete and the Sullivan Mountain Boys, Bert Recors (illustration)
The Butcher Shop Quartet, Rite of Spring’s Stravinsky – demo by Pro Shop (illustration)