Emanuel Torres
Aguas Buenas, PR, 1988
Biography Details
Painter, draftsman, video artist, performer and installation artist. In 2010 he completed a bachelor's degree in Theater and Philosophy at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. His artistic training has been through independent study in plastic arts and under the tutelage of artists such as Harry Hernández in visual arts and Álvaro Villalobos in video art, installation and performance. In 2018, he received a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. He has exhibited his work individually in Puerto Rico and the United States. In addition, he has participated in international collectives in Japan, San Francisco, California and Gainesville, Florida. He currently lives and works in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Artist Statement
The plastic arts are the material result of the poetic dialogue between the spiritual and the physical. Starting from this premise my work is created. It is a metaphorical dialogue with the ordinary. The painting turns into a trace of my experience towards reality. The creation of forms that discuss the personal liberty, the spiritual, the political, the poetic and the individual. Applying techniques that emerge from automatism within a neo-abstract expressionist search, I generate a body of work that seeks more than anything else to dialogue the complexity of the pictorial phases in the human.
Emanuel Torres, 2020
Formation
Education
2010
- Bachelor in Theatre and Philosophy. Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009
- Studies in Video Art, Installation and Performance. Universidad de Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus, Cayey, Puerto Rico
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2019
- Río en la mano, Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar (MADMi), San Juan, Puerto Rico
2018
- Metamorfosis de la forma, Casa Museo Ashford, Condado San Juan, Puerto Rico
2017
- Distopía Augusta, Espacio Minerva, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2016
- Anima Unveiled: Recent Works Emanuel Torres, Thomas Center Galleries, Florida, United States
2015
- Noveno Círculo, Cuadrado Gris, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2014
- The Unkempt Head: Recent Works by Emanuel Torres-Pérez, Cranium Corporation, San Francisco, California, United States
2013
- Cabeza Descuidada, Galería 209, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2011
- Gloriosas Fantasías Revolucionarias, Galería 778, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009
- La Barriga de Calandrino, Centro Cultural Miguel Meléndez Muñoz, Cayey, Puerto Rico
Group Shows
2020
- Untitled Art Fair, Latchkey Gallery, New York, United States
2018
- Left Bank Leeds Art Prize, Leeds, United Kingdom
2017
- Línea Dura, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico; Universidad Interamericana, Metro Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2016
- Aging Coconut, Roberto Paradise, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- WOCA Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2014
- Come Home, University of Florida, Florida, United States
- Yokosuka Peace Exhibition Yokosuka, Japan
2013
- Homenaje a Lorenzo Homar, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Santurce es Ley 4, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Feria de Arte y Diseño, Galería Nacional, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2012
- Polígrafos, Galería 778, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Afrolatinos, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
2011
- Caleidoscopio 2, Galería 778, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Performances
2010
- Limpieza profunda, Baby Steps, Galería 778, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009
- Bandera mediática, Arte interdisciplinario: investigación, video, instalación y performance, Cayey, Puerto Rico
- El fumador de Dalí, Realized during the book presentation of ‘Péndulo de Hojalata’ by James Cantre, Café Seda, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2008
- Sin título, Festival de Les arts melè, Universidad de France Comptè, Besançon, France
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
2018
- Grant. Pollock - Krasner Foundation, New York, United States
2009
- Finalist in painting. “Manos en lienzo” Exhibition, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bibliography
Newspapers
“Escogen finalistas de Certamen de arte”. Primera Hora (San Juan, PR), 22 de octubre de 2009.
“Inaugura Río en la Mano en el MADMi”. Metro (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 6 de junio de 2019. https://www.metro.pr/pr/entretenimiento/2019/06/06/inaugura-rio-la-mano-madmi.html
Roldán Soto, Camile. “El universo colorido y lúdico de Emanuel Torres”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 10 de junio de 2019. https://www.elnuevodia.com/entretenimiento/cultura/notas/el-universo-colorido-y-ludico-de-emanuel-torres/
Web
“Emanuel Torres Pérez becado por la Fundación Pollock-Krasner de Nueva York” Puerto Rico Art News. Agosto de 2018.
https://www.puertoricoartnews.com/2018/08/emanuel-torres-perez-becado-por-la.html
Gilroy, Anne E. “ANIMA UNVEILED, The Self by Emanuel Torres Pérez” Historic Thomas Center. http://www.historicthomascenter.org/anima-unveiled-the-self-by-emanuel-torres-perez-jan-15%E2%80%89-%E2%80%89mar-15-2016/
“Pollock-Krasner Foundation Announces 2018-19 Grants Totaling Over $3 Million” Resnicow and Associates. April 17, 2019. https://resnicow.com/client-news/pollock-krasner-foundation-announces-2018-19-grants-totaling-over-3-million#:~:text=Pollock%2DKrasner%20Foundation%20Announces%202018%2D19%20Grants%20Totaling%20Over%20%243%20Million,-Posted%3A&text=The%20Pollock%2DKrasner%20Foundation%20announced,its%202018%2D2019%20grant%20cycle.
“Prestigiosa organización reconoce al artista puertorriqueño Emanuel Torres Pérez” El Nueva Día. 17 de abril de 2019 https://www.elnuevodia.com/entretenimiento/cultura/notas/prestigiosa-organizacion-reconoce-al-artista-puertorriqueno-emanuel-torres-perez/