Nathan Budoff
Massachusetts, U.S.A., 1962
Biography Details
Painter, draftsman, installation artist and translator. He received his BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He traveled to Colombia in 1993 as a Fulbright Fellow before settling in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1994. He has been invited as an artist to the University of Minnesota Duluth and for several symposiums in Medellín, Colombia. He has also been a finalist in several competitions, the Bienal de Dibujo in Tijuana and the Certamen Nacional de Artes Plásticas at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico. His interest in books and narrative lead him to produce three artist's books from the late 90s until 2003 (each book was designed, printed and bound by hand in a limited edition). In 2002, he competed for a public art commission as part of the Puerto Rico Public Art Program. He was selected to create "Con las Cotorras", a Byzantine mosaic 42 feet in diameter, was installed in 2003 at the Martínez Nadal station of the Tren Urbano. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Ucross Foundation, the Vermont Studio Center, the American Academy in Rome and the Faculty Resource Network at NYU. His work has been included in group exhibitions in San Juan, Medellín, New York, Chicago, Minnesota, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Miami and Orlando. He recently presented a solo exhibition, Designing Utopias at MADMi (San Juan, PR), and a two-artist exhibition, Breadth, Growth and Terrain (in collaboration with Frances Gallardo, at the Rollins Art Museum, Florida, USA). His works are part of the public collections of the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, the Museo de Arte de Ponce, and the Museo de Arte de Caguas as well as the Catherine T. and John D. MacArthur Foundation, the Boston Public Library and the New York Public Library. While developing his artistic work, Budoff works with language, translation and linguistic evaluation. His recent work imagines spaces and relationships, often unexpected, between flora and fauna.
Artist Statement
Fractions of time, a fragment of space, the combination of factors that open a breach in our minds. My recent work is occupied by flora and fauna. I have used this visual language to refer to the fragility and interrelated nature of our life as part of the organism we know as Earth. We are in and of this world, as it is concurrently in and of us–flowing through and created by us. Different creatures are enlarged, given prominence in the works, relocated, and combined in unlikely spaces and groupings. They are drawing together for conversations and solidarity, or maybe passing in futility. It is about the investigation and a sense of appreciation and magic. There is a utopian urge in bringing together creatures that are seen as threatening, as well as in the development of spaces of negotiation. I also feel that there is an ominous quality to some of these impossible encounters. This tension between the possibility of encounter and the threat of disappearance is at the heart of what I try to communicate. In the service of these ends, the paintings and drawings combine various media, on raw and primed canvas —the making includes the hybridity that marks the imagery.
My work is influenced by playfulness, captured in Édouard Glissant’s Poetics of Relation. Glissant proposes that “…each and every identity is extended through a relationship with the Other.” (Glissant, Édouard, and Wing, Betsy. Poetics of Relation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997, 11). In my recent work, the “Other” includes bees, octopuses, prairie dogs, meerkats, sharks, tigers, owls, bears, and elephants. There are no impenetrable boundaries, but a yearning toward communication.
Nathan Budoff, 2021
Formation
Education
2017-2021
- Master’s Degree, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, CUNY School of Professional Studies, New York, United States
2007-2013
- Juris Doctor, Law School, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1989-1991
- Master’s Degree of Visual Arts. School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
1982-1985
- Bachelor’s Degree of Visual Arts. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
1982
- Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain
1981
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Professional Experience
2004-present
- Painting, Design and Art Appreciation Professor. Departamento de Bellas Artes, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2015
- Curator. “¡Que no se acabe la fiesta!”, the Hole, New York, United States
2009
- Curator. “Talleres Avanzados”, Francisco Oller Gallery, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2008
- Curator. “Pintura Ahora”, Francisco Oller Gallery, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2006
- Curator. BFA Graduates Exhibition, Francisco Oller Gallery, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- Co-founder and Curator. First Annual Ephemeral Artistic Installation Project, School of General Studies, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2000-2003
- Humanities Professor. Facultad de Estudios Generales, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1994-2000
- Video, Painting and Drawing Professor. Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997-2000
- Art Appreciation Professor. Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1994
- Visiting Professor. Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
- Visiting Artist. Escuela de Bellas Artes. Cartagena, Colombia
1992-1993
- Painting Instructor. Painting Studio, Buck’s Rock Summer Arts Camp, New Milford, Connecticut, United States
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2021
- Entre Tierra Firme y Mar (mural), Cataño Waterfront, Cataño, Puerto Rico
- Growth, Breath, and Terrain, Rollins Art Museum, Winter Park, Florida, United States
2019
- Designing Utopias, Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2017
- Suspension of Separation, Henao Cultural Center, Orlando, Florida, United States
- Island in the Sky, MActivity, New Haven, Conneticut, United States
2016
- Fecund Verdant, ArtLab, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2014
- Murmuration, Trailer Park Project, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Retrato, 448 Contempo Gallery, New York, United States
- Cityscape 2.0, Colburn Gallery, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, United States
2013
- Retrato, Recinto Cerra, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2012
- Looking up, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
2007
- Diplomacia cotidiana, Galería 356, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004
- Nathan Budoff-Recent Work, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, Minnesota, United States
2003
- El Rebote Incierto, Arte-Papel, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- Espejerías and Recent Paintings, Galería Viota, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
2001
- Cuentas extensas, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999
- Péndulo de las Américas, Centro Colombo Americano, Medellín, Colombia
1999
- Follaje-Nathan Budoff, Museo de las Américas, San Juan; Museo Fortín Conde de Mirasol, Vieques, Puerto Rico
1996
- Fragmentos de una utopía, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, Centro Europa, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Uno con el otro, Museo de Arte e Historia, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1995
- Geografía y gula, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1994
- Centro Colombo Americano, Bogotá, Colombia
1992
- Nathan Budoff, Union League Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Artist Books
2003
- El Rebote Incierto, Contrafuerte Editions, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- Espejerías, Contrafuerte Editions, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2000
- Follaje, Contrafuerte Editions, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Shows
2018
- Linea Dura, Museo Dr. Pío López Martínez, University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus, Cayey, Puerto Rico
- Defying Darkness, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
2017
- Borimex, Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, New York, United States
- Artistas para Vieques y Culebra, Condado Vanderbilt Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2015
- Summertime Arts, Red Dot Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
- ¡Que no se acabe la fiesta!, The Hole, New York, New York, United States
- Muestra Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2014
- Gallery Artists, Tansey Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
- La Jardinera de la Cerra, Recinto Cerra, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2013
- Arte y Azar, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Muestra Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2012
- Afrolatinos, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
2011
- Caleidoscopio, 778 Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2010
- Encuentros: espacio, tiempo y vida, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Divertimento, 778 Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Careos/Relevos: 25 años del MAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Pasiones, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009
- Muestra Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- La Muerte, Black Box Art Foundation y Consulado de México, La Respuesta, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2008
- CIRCA Art Fair, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Te quiero, Galería 356, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- En sus marcas, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- El T Shirt Show, Galería 356, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2007
- La Feria de julio, =DESTO, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2003
- Cien años de enseñanza en la Universidad, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Obra Reciente de la Facultad, Galería Francisco Oller, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Reality Check, Nandi Gallery, Montclair, New Jersey, United States
2002
- Inaugural Exhibition, Pavlova M Gallery, Miami, Florida, United States
- V Certamen Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Flora, Casa del Libro, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Correspondencias- un dialogo con Ramón Frade, Museo Dr. Pío López, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus, Cayey, Puerto Rico
2001
- Libros de Artista, Diseño Isleño, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- La Palabra Dibujada, Museo de las Américas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Bare Walls, Gallery 2, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Four Corners of the World, Gallery 2, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Projects from the Abbey Memorial Workshop in Mural Painting, National Academy of Design, New York, United States
- Arte Contemporáneo Puertorriqueño, Centro Cultural Español, Miami, Florida, United States
- Arte Puertorriqueño en Guadalupe, Centro de las Artes Pointe-a Pitre, Guadalupe
- Muestra Nacional de Arte Puertorriqueño, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2000
- Exposición Colectiva, Casa del Libro, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Objetos de amor… y esperanza, Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 10” x 10” x 10”, Galería Raíces, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Creo en Vieques, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan; Museo Fortín Conde de Mirasol, Vieques, Puerto Rico
- El Diluvio, Mon Petit Art Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999
- Tu- Trans, Fundación Miró, Barcelona, Spain
- Exposición de la Facultad, Galería Francisco Oller, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1998
- 100 años después, 100 artistas contemporáneos, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Parejas, SA; 10 artistas, 5 obras, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- STOP, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997
- Árbol de Navidad, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Exposición de la Facultad de la Escuela de Artes Plásticas, Museo de Arte e Historia, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1996
- Exposición de la Facultad, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Gallery Artists, Galería Palomas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Gallery Artists, Swanson Cralle Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky, United States
1993
- Art Furniture, Ab Imo Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States
1992
- The Next Generation: Impact of Race, Class and Sexuality on Family Life, Gallery 2, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
1991
- Lacking Any Persuasive Theory, MWMWM Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
1990
- Sixth Annual Iones Graduate Art Exhibition, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, United States
- Window to the Imagination, Gallery 2, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
1987
- Mon Amour, Circlework Visions Gallery, New York, United States
1985
- Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition, Student Union Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
- Budoff and Tamarchenko, Northampton Center for the Art, Northampton, Massachusetts, United States
1984
- Woodstock Annual Exhibition, Woodstock School of Art, Woodstock, New York, United States
- New England Open, Grove Street Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
2011, 2012, 2013
- Summer Scholar in Residence, Faculty Resource Network, New York University, New York, United States
2008
- Grant. Network Summer, Faculty Resource Network, New York University, New York, United States
2006
- Grant. Network Summer, Faculty Resource Network, New York University, New York, United States
2005
- Finalist. VI Certamen Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- Finalist. V Certamen Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Grant. National Endowment for the Arts, Programa de Subvención Básica para las Artes, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2001
- Scholarship. Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Scholarship for Mural Painting, National Academy of Design, New York, United States
2000
- Grant. National Endowment for the Arts, Programa de Subvención Básica para las Artes, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999
- Grant. Fondo Puertorriqueño para el Financiamiento del Quehacer Cultural, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1998
- Grant. National Endowment for the Arts, Programa de Subvención Básica para las Artes, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Grant. Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, United States
1997
- Grant. Fondo Puertorriqueño para el Financiamiento del Quehacer Cultural, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1993
- Fellowship to study in Colombia. Fulbright Program, United States Department of State, Washington DC, United States
- Grant. Community Arts Assistance Program Grant, Chicago, Illinois, United States
1992
- Residencia. Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, Wyoming, United States
Collections
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Centro Colombo Americano, Bogotá, Colombia
- Colección Biblioteca José M. Lázaro, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte e Historia, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- New York Public Library, New York, United States
- Newark Public Library, Newark, New Jersey, United States
- Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Rollins Art Museum, Winter Park, Florida, United States
Bibliography
Newspapers
Toro, Ana Teresa. “Esa Efímera Cotidianidad”, El Nuevo Día, 10 de septiembre de 2013.
Bliss, Peggy Ann. “With Pets and Children,”, San Juan Daily Star, September 4, 2013.
Blasor, Lorraine. “Nathan Budoff’s New Artwork Aims to Embrace Wonderand Possibility,” Caribbean Business (San Juan, PR), 18 de agosto de 2005.
“Latin American Artists bring new flavor to the Northland,” Kyle Eller, Duluth Budgeteer News, December 5, 2004.
Alegre Barrios, Mario. “Budoff: Imagen y Palabra”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 16 de enero de 2002.
“Nathan Budoff”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 22 de abril de 2001.
Álvarez Lezama, Manuel. “La última noche de galerías”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 8 de abril de 2001.
Rodríguez, Jorge. “Follajes y locuras”. El Mundo (San Juan, PR), 14 de octubre de 1999.
“Nathan Budoff”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 14 de marzo de 1999.
Álvarez Lezama, Manuel. “Budoff’s Follaje…”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 26 de febrero de 1999.
Vázquez Zapata, Larissa. “Variaciones del Paisaje”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 7 de febrero de 1999.
García Gutiérrez, Enrique. “Dos en un Museo”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 28 de julio de 1996.
Álvarez Lezama, Manuel. “Budoff: The aesthetics of color”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 18 de julio de 1996.
Álvarez Lezama, Manuel. “Nathan Budoff”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 23 de marzo de 1995.
Richardson, Penelope. “Nathan Budoff: an Interview”. Colombia Post (Colombia), julio 1994.
Bulka, Michael. “On View: Chicago”. New Art Examiner (Chicago, IL), enero 1991.
García Benitez, Mariana. "Pop, Violencia y Pacto". Primera Hora (San Juan, PR), 13 de septiembre de 2007.
Rodríguez Saavedra, Dalila. "Budoff y su cinismo agudo y feroz". El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 28 de septiembre de 2007.
Balsor, Lorraine. "Nathan Budoff’s New Artwork Aims to Embrace Wonder and Possibility". Caribbean Business (San Juan, PR), 18 de agosto de 2005.
"Culture Colors Latin Art Show", Duluth News Tribune, 9 de diciembre de 2004.
"Galería con rieles", El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 12 de diciembre de 2004.
Mesa Mejía, Beatriz. "Imagen revivida de Pedro Nel". El Colombiano, 10 de agosto de 2004.
Magazines
de la Serna Vázquez, Maria Arlette. “Nathan Budoff: We Have the Sky Above,”, Latin American Art, Num. 5, p. 42-45, abril-sept 2014.
Quiñones Justiniano, Sandra. “Nathan Budoff Invita a Mirar Hacia Arriba,”, Elite Magazine Puerto Rico, marzo-abril-mayo 2013.
Sanz de Arellano López, Isabel P. “Looking Up: Ilusionismo pragmático,”, Revista Imagen, San Juan, agosto 2012.
Michelle R.O. “Nathan Budoff mira hacia arriba,” , Conboca, 22 de septiembre de 2012.
Engman, Suzanna, “UPR Professor’s Mosaic Caps Train Station,” Inventio, 1:1, 2004.
"Nathan Budoff dirige creación de mural en Nuevo México", Art Premium, 3:15, julio-agosto 2006
Martínez, Maribella. "Nathan Budoff". Art Premium, 1:3, 2004
Jiménez, Ingrid. "Puerto Rico’s Programa de Arte Público". Art Nexus, #53, Abril-Julio 2004
Web
Ortiz Declet, Bianca. “Retrato: Una reconstrucción ideal de memorias vivas”, Visón Doble, October 15, 2013.
Vélez, Pedro. “MNA Una Buena Muestra,” The Box Score, 2010.
"An Uneasy Trip: Budoff and Cristancho at the DAI", mnartists.org, enero, 2005.
Radio
Torres, María Elba. “Nathan Budoff y el Arte de Educar para el Arte”, Veo Veo, Bonita Radio (San Juan, PR), 17 de septiembre de 2013.