Edra Soto
San Juan, PR, 1971
Biography Details
Painter and video artist. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Arts from Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico and in 1995 received the Alfonso Arana’s scholarship to study and work at the Studio of the artist in Paris and to travel around Europe during one year. During 1997 she continued her studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is distinguished by its great expressive power and the creation of seductive and fantastic scenarios where color is the protagonist.
Artist Statement
In my work I seek to provide an engaging, participatory space that erases boundaries between the audience, the artist, and the work of art. In pursuing this goal over the last decade, I have made use of a variety of exhibition formats. Immersive installations and site-specific work have facilitated my efforts at public engagement, producing worlds comprised of both traditional and unusual art objects. I tend to draw upon memories of my childhood in Puerto Rico and my religious upbringing for inspiration, making use of parallels between the symmetry of ecclesiastical architecture and the symmetry of sound stages on televised variety shows popular during the 1970s and ‘80s. I attempt to recreate memories in environments of pastiche that to me seem intimately familiar, while hoping to invite viewers to interact with spaces that for them inevitably contain strange and uncanny elements.
Edra Soto, 2014
Formation
Education
2000
- Master of Fine Arts. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, New York, United States
1998
- Bachelor of Fina Arts. Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997
- Post-Secondary Education Certificate. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Professional Experience
2014
- Lecturer. Saint Xavier University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2013
- Lecturer. Jane Addams Hull-House, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2011
- Lecturer. Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2010
- Lecturer. Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, United States
2009
- Lecturer. Harold Washington College, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2006
- Art Professor. Noble Street Charter High School, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Artistic Design for Chicago Band’s t-shirt, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2005
- Mural Project. Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2004
- Curator. The Crappiest Show, Quimby’s Book Store, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Artistic Design for CD. The Rite of Spring, The Butcherchop Quartet, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2002-2005
- Art Professor. Kelvyn Park High School, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2002
- Photography and illustration for Iron Night. NAD Navillus, JagJaguwar, Chicago, Illinois, United States
1999
- Curator. Glam Salon, Student Union Gallery, SAIC, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2014
- TBD, Lloyd Dobler Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Excess of Joy, Seerveld Gallery, Trinity College, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2013
- Graft, Terrain, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Wake Up!, Medicine Cabinet, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2012
- The Wedding Cake Project, New Capital, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- LIVING by Example, NIU Fine Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2010
- Homily, Ebersmoore, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2009
- The Chacon-Soto Show, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Forever Vegetal, Roots and Culture, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Lesson Plan, Second Bedroom Projects, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2005
- A Year in Review (gallery project) and Landfill (complementary public project), At The Edge series, Gallery 400, UIC, Chicago, Illinois, United States
-
Rhythm Nation, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Shows
2014
- TBD, The Bike Rook, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Dock6 Design & Art Series, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- HEAD, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Renaissance re-visited, South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Living Arrangement, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
2013
- Home Bodies,Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Front & Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- et aliae, Galería Agustina Ferreyra, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- NOW SEE HEAR, Believe Inn, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Point of Departure, The Arcade, Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2012
- Interconexiones: Lecturas curatoriales de la Colección del MAPR, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Your Face is a Landscape, Field Projects, New York, United States
- Afterimage, The Roger Brown Study Collection, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Afterimage, Center for Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- A Personal Dinner Invitation, ShOPRoots & Culture, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Blaque Lyte Show, ADA Gallery, Richmond, Virginia, United States
- Afrolatinos, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Program Suffer Abstain Deprogram, Harold Washington College, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Dock6 Design & Art Series, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2011
- Archival Impulse, Gallery 400 UIC, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- CoLaboratory, Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Heads and Poles, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- An Exchange with Sol LeWitt, Cabinet Magazine, New York, United States
2010
- Six Rooms, Longman & Eagle and Harold Arts, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Office Romance!,Threewalls, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2009
- Artists Run Chicago with Second Bedroom, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Puerto Rico: Geografia humana, fotografias y video del sigloXXI, Art Museum of the Americas, The Smithsonian Latino Center, Washington DC, United States; Museo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2006
- War impressions, Zverev Center of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia
- Lo Romántico,Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Six Flags: Polvo Est. 1996, Commerce Street Artist Warehouse, Houston, Texas, United States
- Rewind…Rewind…Video –arte puertorriqueño, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Nova Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Video Laundrey, Mess Hall, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- A Public Space, Daley Plaza, Daley Plaza, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2005
- Research, NIU Museum, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- The Fourth Floor, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Lies that Bill Gates told me: Exploring the Digital Divide, VUSpace, Victoria University, Australia
- City Selections, Tourism Center, Chicago; Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Temporary Allegiances, UIC Gallery 400, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2004
- Don’t Call it Performance, Museo del Barrio, New York, United States
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
2014
- Residency. Rauschenberg Foundation Residency, 3Arts Fellow, Captiva, Florida, United States
2013
- Grant. DCASE Individual Artists Program Grant, Chicago, Illinois, Estados Unidos
2011
- Residency. Beta-Local, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004
- Residency. M&M Proyectos, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2001-2003
- Grant. Assistance to the Arts Community Scholarship Program. Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
2000
- Scholarship. Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture with the collaboration of The School of the Art institute of Chicago, Skowhegan, Maine, United States
1995
- Alfonso Arana Annual Scholarship. Fundación Alfonso Arana, Paris, France
Collections
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bibliography
Newspapers
“Innovador espacio en el MAPR”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 2005.
Trelles Hernández, Carmen. "En continuo movimiento” . Primera Hora (San Juan, PR), 2005.
Luo, Jean. “UIC gallery strives to give artists free-range for exhibits”. The Daily Northwestern (Illinois, EU), enero 2005.
Pérez Ruiz, José A. “La Estética Vanguardista de Edra Soto”, El Vocero (San Juan, PR), agosto 2004.
Magazines
Fuentes, Elvis. “Edra Soto at MAPR”, Arte Al Día (Miami, EU), 2005.
Vélez, Pedro. “The New Scenesters”, Artnet (Nueva York, EU), 2005.
Vrachopoulos, Thalia. “San Juan: Collectors, Collections and the Art Market” , YArts (Nueva York, EU), marzo 2005.
”La Pintadera”, Art Premium, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, enero –febrero 2005.
Hannum, Terence. “Edra Soto Documentation 2004: A Year in Review", Panel-House (Illinois, EU), enero 2005.
Vélez, Pedro. “Edra Soto at Dogmatic”, Ten By Ten Magazine (Illinois, EU), mayo 2002.
Volpe, Jessica. “Art Picks…” UR Chicago”, UR Chicago (Illinois, EU), diciembre 2001.