Inés Aponte
San Juan, PR, 1956
Biography Details
Multimedia artist, painter, draftswoman, video artist and art professor. Studied at Pratt Institute. Her education during the 70’s led Aponte to profound questionings about social systems, state institutions, civil rights and social justice. Her work nurtures from this trajectory, developing into a work of observation and social criticism mixed with a great sense of humor. Also, the conceptual approaches of the 1960’s, rooted in the Dadaism from the turn of the century, have been the major influences in her work.
Artist Statement
Ines Aponte’s artistic expression covers a variety of media such as drawing, painting, mixed media, installations and video. In 1991 it made a turn towards formal deconstruction. Everyday life supplied the materials: gift-wrapping paper, "glitter", varied fabrics, folding tables, napkin holders, etc., materials that appeal not only to the visual, but instead summon all the senses. The significant is the building principle underlying the sequence of these manipulations. The evocation they generate moves her to pick up again the construction methods and expressions from childhood. In that way, she cuts, pastes, creases, overlaps fragments of materials, images, altered words; clearly disparate elements that in their proximity and rejection establish an "operational violence" that generates new images. Herein she plays with the extremes and malice that all games entail. In the works shown since 2000 these games are set against elements representative of the Systems of Power and vice versa: the Systems of Power have been subverted and intervened by the game. (Exposición Marcados de 2001, Sobremesa de Gatos, Lobos y Ratones de 2005 y Cortadas por la Misma Tijera de 2011).
The guidelines for the work originate from particular aesthetic sources such as the Oriental images of HakuinEkaku and knowledge that modernity has downplayed such as: vaudeville, the circus, Thomas Edison’s cinema and the music of Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. Other fundamental influences are the Dadaist manifesto and the work of the constructivists, especially the designs of Alexander Rodchenko.
Aponte’s artistic career sets a counterpoint (contrast) between the gaiety of a child and the rigorous ordering of institutional life, between the burdensome and lightness, between the sacred and the profane, the minimalist and the carnivalesque, between the tragic and the comic.
Formation
Education
2006
- Video editing and animation courses, Atlantic College, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
2001
- Video editing courses. Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999
- Computer art, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1989
- Master in Painting.Pratt Institute, New York, United States
1986
- Bachelor in drawing. Pratt Institute, New York, United States
1979
- Bachelor in Psychology, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1979-1980
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Drawing and printmaking courses. Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Professional Experience
2020
- Publication of book “Corporal Traces”
- Vimalakirti Sutra with Robert Thurman. Menla, New York, United States
2019-2020
- Professor. Liga de Arte de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004-2019
- Professor. Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2017
- “Sutra and Tantra: The Profound and Miraculous”, with Robert Thurman, Wisdom Academy Online
- “H.H.Dalai Lama’s a Force for Good, Buddhist Science Sources for Practices Beyond Religion” with Robert Thurman, Tibet House, New York, United States
2014-16
- “Foundation” and “Emptiness” Courses, Tibetan Buddhist Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2013-14
- Webinars, Rupert Spira Online
2012
- Direct Path with Greg Goode
2001-2005
- Professor. Fine Arts Department, Humanities Faculty, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1996-1998
- Professor. Fine Arts Department, Humanities Faculty, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, Puerto Rico
1988-1986
- Professor, Fine Arts Department, Humanities Faculty, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988, 1992
- Professor. Fine Arts Department, Humanities Faculty, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, Puerto Rico
1988-1994
- Professor. Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1987
- Professor of drawing and painting. Washington's Heights Coalition, New York, United States
1986
- Art Assistant. Sculptress Aeyung Park, New York, United States
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2020
- Publicación del libro: “Trazos Corporales / Corporal Traces” by Inés Aponte
- Publication of Artist Website, www.inesaponte.com
2017-2018
- Trazos corporales, Pollock Krasner Grant
2011-2012
- Cortadas por la Misma Tijera, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- En el Ancón de Loíza, PR’02, Antigua Sede del Ancón de Loíza, Loíza, Puerto Rico
2001
- Registro de Marcas (Marcados), Museo de las Américas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997
- Moriviví, Galería Luiggi Marrozzini, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1991
- Espectáculo y Sacrificio, Zeitgeist Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1990
- Paintings, Galería MSA, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988
- Paintings, Pratt Institute Gallery, New York, United States
1986
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Drawings and paintings, Pratt Institute Gallery , New York, United States
Book Covers
1996
- "Covering the Sky with your Hands" for the Book “El crimen en Puerto Rico” por Dora Nevares
- "Te Veo, No te Veo", Book Cover for Charlie Gorra Strikes Back by Daniel Nina
1995
- "Tongue twister" Magazine Cover for the Caribbean Magazine, University of Puerto Rico, Vol.28, No.1 January to June 1995.
Colectiva
2019- Present
- Puerto Rico Plural, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2019
- Anarquía y dialéctica en el deseo: géneros y marginalidad en Puerto Rico, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Los 50 años de la Liga, Museo de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2015
- Colección de Arte del Museo de Arte de Ponce, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
- El artista que llevas dentro. Exposición permanente en Galería activARTE, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2013
- Vial, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2012
- Interconexiones, Lecturas curatoriales de la Colección Permanente del MAPR, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2010
- Muestra Nacional de Arte Puertorriqueño, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- En la Gaveta, Galería La 15, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009
- Circa, Exposición de Videos, Galería 354, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2005-2006
- Rewind-Rewind- Muestra de Video en Puerto Rico, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004-2005
- Islas Naciones, Museo de Arte, Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island, United States
2004
- Colectivo Galería 356, Galería 356, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Muestra Nacional de Arte Puertorriqueño, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2003
- 100 Años de Arte y Enseñanza en la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- Facing Each Other: Prints Concerning Identity, Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, New Jersey, United States
2001
- Exposición de Arte Puertorriqueño Contemporáneo, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Muestra Nacional de Arte Puertorriqueño Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2000
- Artistas Puertorriqueños, Instituto Santa Fe, Granada, Spain
- Utopistas, Galería de Arte, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999
- El Café de las 3:00-Otros Relatos en Casa de Doña Fela, Museo de Felisa Rincón de Gautier, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Juegos- Tensión, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1998
- Pequeño Formato, Museo de las Amércias, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Cien Artistas Puertorriqueños Contemporáneos, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Caribe: Fragmentación, Exclusión y Paraíso, Museo Extremeño Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Badajoz, Spain
1997
- "De allá pa' ca", Sala de los Contrafuertes, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1996
- Contemporary Puerto Rican Artists, Kenkeleba Gallery, New York, United states
- Signos de Transición, Galería Luiggi Marrozzini, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1994
- Pequeño Formato, Galería Luiggi Marrozzini, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1993
- Arte, Objeto y Artefacto, Citibank & Luiggi Marrozzini Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Muestra Certamen del Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Muestra Nacional del Quinto Centenario, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1992
- Pequeño Formato, Galería Luiggi Marrozzini, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Abstracción Conceptual, Librería Hermés, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1991
- Exposición Ex-alumnos de Pratt Institute, Cooperativa de Seguros Múltiples de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1989
- Arte Joven, Chase Manhattan Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988
- Primer Certamen de Pintura, Quinto Centenario del Descubrimiento de América y Puerto Rico, Certamen AVCO, Casablanca, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Exposición Huellas, Lower East Side, New York, United States
1977
- Dhara Rivera e Inés Aponte, Galería del Edificio Chardón, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
2017
- Grant. Pollock Krasner Foundation, New York, United States
2000
- Invited Artist. “Puerto Rico, que Puerto que Rico”, Granada, Spain
1999
- Visiting Artist. Printmaking Center, Mason Gros Art School, Rutgers University , New Jersey, United States
1994
- Invited Artist. Caribbean Art Today, Project Group- Stoffwechsel, Germany
- Invited Artist, IX Bienal Iberoamericana del Arte "Dibujo y Estampa Iberoamericanos”, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico
- Invited Artist. IV Bienal de Pintura, Cuenca, Ecuador
Collections
- Espacio 1414, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Bibliography
Catalogues
Caribbean Art Today, Stoffwechsel, Alemania, 1994
Espectáculo y sacrificio, Zeitgeist Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1991
Puerto Rico’02 [En ruta], M & M proyectos, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2002
Registro de Marcas, Museo de Las Américas, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001
U/TOpistas: estudio para proyectos contemporáneos, Michelle Marxuach Galería, M & M art projects, 1998
Newspapers
Roldán Soto, Camile. “Inés Aponte: del claustro de la Escuela de Artes Plásticas a la beca Pollock-Krasner”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 4 de septiembre de 2017
Vazquez Zapata, Larissa. "Ines Aponte and an antidote to amnesia". El Nuevo Día, Revista Domingo (San Juan, PR), May 6, 2001
Web
“Inés Aponte: Buscando el trazo de la consciencia” Entrevista por Ernesto Pujol. http://inesaponte.com/ernesto-pujol/
Goode, Greg. “Inés Aponte y el Camino Directo”. http://inesaponte.com/greg-goode/
Torres Arzola, Raquel. “Consciencia del Contacto”. http://inesaponte.com/torres-arzola/
90grados.com. “La artista Inés Aponte recibe beca de la Fundación Pollock – Krasner”. http://90grados.com/arte/la-artista-ines-aponte-recibe-beca-de-la-fundacion-pollock-krasner/