Ismael de Anda III

Artist’s Statement

Using mutant practices, including installation, drawing, painting, sculpture, and relational, interactive projects inspired by the history of minimal and conceptual art and social sculpture, my work focuses on re-interpretation of memory, inhabitation, and cultural history inspired by my pluralistic existence growing up on the hinge of the U.S./Mexico border and within the diverse realm of Los Angeles.

My personal concept of the mutant, a condition of unexpected evolution, was born from my adolescent reading of X-Men comics that featured mutant outsiders/anti-heroes whose special abilities set them apart, as well as my own Mexican-American ethnicity.

The term “mutant” not only refers to my mixing of artistic processes, but also to the multi-ethnic existence of those living in the United States and the discomfort some feel when viewing a new type of authenticity that is not “true” to any one culture. This blending, mixing, and nuance creates the “mutant” concept that exists as a force of its own pushing the viewer to absorb, re-process, and re-categorize concepts related to kitsch, stereotypes, and “the ugly” and new breeds of culture.

My installations are designed to be physical experiences for the viewers as they continually move through the space with changing perspectives.

Through the making of these sensorial, layered environments, I seek to provide an opportunity to measure and reassess the defined/undefined world around the viewer, leading toward fresh discoveries. My works are often site-specific, inspired by the communities in which they are created, using locally sourced materials.

Website: ismaeldeanda3.com

Biography

Select Solo Exhibitions from 2013-2018

2017
Celestial Bodies, Dept. of Human Sciences Breezeway, Texas Tech University School of Art/ Department of Human Sciences, Lubbock, Texas.

2017
Love Duster, Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, CA.

2016
Multiverso, Agua Fuerte, organized by La Estación Arte Contemporaneo, Chihuahua, Mexico.

2014
Superextremos Ulteriores, Museo de Arte Sonora MUSAS, Hermosillo, Mexico.

Select Group Exhibitions from 2013-2018

2018
The Art of Protest: Epiphany & the Culture of Empowerment, Church of the Epiphany, Los Angeles, CA.

2015
3rd SUR:Biennial, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA.

2014
Illusions of a Perfect Utopia, Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

2013
III El Paso-Juaréz Bienal, El Paso Museum of Art/ Museo de Arte Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Select Community-based Artwork

2018
Art Without Walls – Sounds of Freedom, Art inspired by social justice issues, Families create recorded soundscapes recreating memories of a time when they felt free, Felipe de Neve Branch Library & Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA.

2017
Comics of Color, Bi-lingual Comic Book making workshop series, community members published an anthology comic book along with an exhibition presenting their work, Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, CA.

2015
LACMA Satellite ART STUDIO @ LUEDERS PARK, Lead Teaching Artist, All-ages year-round Art Studio open to the local community, Compton, CA.

2013
California State University Dominguez Hills/ Bethune Middle School, Gear-up College Preparation Program, Artist in Residence, Mural: Contemporary California Visionaries, Bethune Middle School, Los Angeles, CA.

Select Fellowships and Awards

2017
Ryla T. & John F. Lott Endowment for Excellence in the Visual Arts Artist in Residence. Texas Tech University School of Art/Department of Human Sciences, Lubbock, Texas.

2014
The Installation Project, Artist in Residence, Windward School, Los Angeles, CA.

2010
Asian Cultural Council, Japan-United States Arts Program Fellow, New York, NY.

Education

M.F.A., 2000
California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.

B.F.A., 1996
University of Texas, El Paso, El Paso, TX.