Artist Statement

I make art from the point of view of the systemically disenfranchised and by making use of the object of consumption as a unit of representation. I experiment with its variable semiological interpretations, striving to create pieces that can start conversations that travel between the art sphere and the social realm.

In this dynamic it is difficult to describe what is my place, am I the artist? or the act of the piece being created makes me the author a “posteriori”? I work the piece, but never feel like the true creator, as I feel that through the process, it tells me things, some about myself, some about the world, its ironies and conflicts, always poignant, relevant; this is the way that the divine manifests in my life and my intent is often influenced by the force of our collective existence.

Artist Biography

Emilio Maldonado is an Afro-Caribbean artist living in Philadelphia. He graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design (MFA, Painting, 2013), Escuela de Artes Plasticas de Puerto Rico (BFA, Painting, 2011) and from Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic (AAS, Fine Arts and Illustration, 2007).

Through a multidisciplinary practice, he boards questions that live between the realm of the domestic and the social-contemporary, dealing with culture, poverty and trauma and with a very keen interest in the human condition.

He has been part of group and solo shows locally and abroad, such as Vox Populi Make/shift (Philadelphia,PA, 2021) and Santo Domingo Museum of Modern Art Biennial, (Santo Domingo, DR, 2013). He has also attended Elsewhere Residency (Greensboro, NC) and Tiger Strikes Asteroid in 2020 and is a 2021 Mural Arts Fellow.

Education

Savannah College of Art & Design, Svannah, GA
MFA, PAinting

Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR
BFA, Painting

School of Design Altos de Chavón, affiliated with Parsons School of Design, La Romana, DR
AAS, Fine Arts and Illustration

Awards & Honors

2021
Mural Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Fellowship

2012
Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, GA
Gelman Trust Fellowship

2011
Carolos Collazo Scholarship Prize for the Plastic Excellence, San Juan, PR

Residencies

Savannah College of Art & Design, Svannah, GA
MFA, PAinting

Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR
BFA, Painting

School of Design Altos de Chavón, affiliated with Parsons School of Design, La Romana, DR
AAS, Fine Arts and Illustration

Bibliography

2021

Riverso, Emma, "20 Black Artists to Watch", The Philadelphia Citizen, online publication,

June 28.

2020
"Artists in the Time of Coronavirus", Artblog, online publication.

2019
"Moore College of Art and Design Faculty Show", Broad Street Review, Philadelphia, PA.

2017
Creativ Magazine, online publication, April Issue.

2013
Garage Sale, SCAD Exhibitions, Savannah, GA

Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 24

acento.com.do

27th MAM Biennial Catalog, Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, DR

Dominicana en Miami, online publication

2009
Primera Hora Diary, sculpture exhibition representative photo, San Juan, PR, January 23.

Selected Exhibitions

Solo
2015
Hyperbolic-Semiotics under Third World Standards, Waldron Gallery, Bloomington, IN

2013
Garage Sale, FAHM Gallery, Savannah, GA

2008
Sin nombre, Om, Santo Domingo, DR

Group
2021
PSSST, Wilma W. Daniels Gallery, Wilmington, NC

Summerhouse, HOT•BED Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Movement + Space, Dana Wiley Gallery, Dayton, OH

12x12x12, The Art Trust, West Chester, PA

2020
Us: What divides us and what unites us?, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC

Sanctuary, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ

Figure in Art, 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2019
Once upon a time in July 25, Puertorican Art Center, Camden, NJ

Concrete and Adrift, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA

Faculty Triennial, Moore Galleries, Philadelphia, PA

2018
Mixed Media, Site: Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY

Spring Stroll, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Politics of exchange, Kimmel Center of Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2017
Philly Fashion Week, Philadelphia, PA

Punto de Encuentro, Capitol Building, San Juan, PR

Politics of exchange, Cecille R. Hunt Gallery, Saint Louis, MO

2016
The Factory Fashion Show, Saint Louis Fashion week, Saint Louis, MO

2014
Expanding mode, Concepto Hudson, Hudson, NY

33March, Old Orchard Gallery, St Louis, MO

Trash to Art, KOKEN Art Factory, St Louis, MO

2013
27th Santo Domingo Visual Arts Biennial, Modern Arts Museum, Santo Domingo, DR

Mixed Mediacy, Non Fiction Gallery, Savannah, GA

Secac Members Show, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC

2012
Collected: Here and Them, Non Fiction Gallery, Savannah, GA

It's a small, small world, Family Business Project Space, New York, NY
Curator: Jason Musson

2011
The new kids in the block, 787 Studios, Santurce, PR

Be Brave, Gómez Hermanos foundation, San Juan, PR

2010
Santurce es Ley II, Santurce, PR

Santurde es Ley I, Santurce, PR

Triennial Elite-Tile, Modern Art Museum, Santo Domingo, DR