My work inhabits a baroque universe of different worlds of aesthetics planes. Through my art works, I become a storyteller. My visual narratives generate energy, alluding to the emotional physicality of art making; and there is the urgency of a concept to keep alive. The physical and emotional experience of drawing is essential to my art making process. Through my drawings, I create beauty with lines. The process of drawing gives rise to visual codes which lead me to spontaneous compositions and intriguing meanings at once. I work in drawing, painting, installations, artists’ books, and video animation. Through these different media, I create contemporary allegories of history, colonization, and politics.
My fascination with the social human experience since the “discovery” of America and its multifarious results is an endless source of inspiration and an essential part of my discourse. This fascination has led me to such themes as the causes and consequences of migration, the mestizo and barroquism as consequences of colonization, the inversion of traditional beliefs of salvation, and the questioning of religious and social uses of the notion of paradise. I create my allegorical narratives by appropriating and transforming symbols and objects that have included life jackets, inner tubes, suitcases, mattresses, tents, umbrellas, religious icons, and newspaper clippings.
Sherezade García (Santo Domingo, 1966)
Lives and works between New York, Austin & Santo Domingo.
Education
Master of Fine Arts, Painting and Sculpture, City College of New York, CUNY, New York, NY, 2011.
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illustration, cum laude, Parsons School of Design at the New School, New York, NY, 1988.
Associate of Applied Science (AAS), Fine Arts and Illustration, summa cum laude, Altos de Chavón School of Design, La Romana, Dominican Republic, 1986.
Solo exhibitions
2021 Stories of Wonder: When the Sea is my Land, Praxis Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
2020 The Corona Altar / Day of the Dead, Green-Wood Cemetery Historical Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York (NY), USA.
2019 Stories of Wonder: From This Side of the Atlantic, Praxis Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
2018 Fireworks and Other Stories, Lyle O. Reitzel Arte Contemporáneo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2018 Liquid Highway: Roots of Civilization, 80 Dekalb, commissioned by BRIC, New York (NY), USA.
2017 It’s So Sunny That It’s Dark, Clifford Art Gallery at Colgate University, New York (NY), USA.
2017 Home is Gold, Taller Boricua, New York (NY), USA.
2017 My Floating World, LA Art Show at MOLAA booth / Relational Undercurrents Exhibition, Los Angeles (CA), USA.
2016 Cathedral/Catedral, Theories of Freedom, Special Project @ Context NYC, Lyle O. Reitzel Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
2015 Super Tropics/Super Trópico, Lyle O. Reitzel Arte Contemporáneo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2015/16 In Transit/Liquid Highway, Miller Theatre at Columbia University in collaboration with The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
2015 Las Aguas Libres/Waters of Freedom, College of Staten Island Gallery, Staten Island (NY), USA.
2012 The Postcard Haiti-Dominican Republic Project-Action, in collaboration with Borders of Light, Dajabón, Dominican Republic.
2012 Invented Civilizations, La Peña Art Gallery, Austin (TX), USA.
2012 The Sacred Body Art of the Omo Valley, solo project for The Armory Show, African Burial Ground Museum, New York (NY), USA.
2011 Theories of Freedom, Humanities Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn (NY), USA.
2010 Theories on Freedom, International Visions Gallery, Washington (DC), USA.
2008 Morir Soñando (Dying Dreaming), District & Co. – The Gallery, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2007 Paradise Redefined, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx (NY), USA.
2007 Island of Many Gods, Salena Gallery at Long Island University, Brooklyn (NY), USA.
2006 Paradise: Selected Pieces, Crossroads Gallery, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame (IN), USA.
2004 Sabana de la Mar: City of Drown, performance-action, Sabana de La Mar, Dominican Republic.
2003 Souvenir: 1 x 1 Individual Projects, Jersey City Museum, Jersey City (NJ), USA.
2001 Paraíso (Paradise), IV Caribbean Biennial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2001 Dios, Patria y Libertad (God, Country and Liberty), IV Caribbean Biennial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2000 Paraíso (Paradise), The Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba.
2000 Stories of Salvation, Último Arte Gallery, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2000 Objects of War, Tales of Freedom, Leonora Vega Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
1997 Tales of Freedom, Mary Anthony Galleries, New York (NY), USA.
1996 Hispanic Heritage Month, New York (NY), USA.
1995 Stories of Fallen Angels, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
1994 History of a Long Conversation, The Art Nouveau Gallery, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
1993 Small Works, Tino Cosma Design Store, New York (NY), USA.
Group exhibitions
2019 At Sea, Dorsky Gallery, Long Island City (NY), USA.
2018 Queenie: Selected artworks by female artists from El Museo del Barrio’s collection, Hunter East Harlem Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
2018 Bordering the Imaginary, BRIC, Brooklyn (NY), USA.
2017 How to read El Pato Pascual, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, California State University, Los Angeles (CA), USA.
2017 How to read El Pato Pascual, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Schindler House, Los Angeles (CA), USA.
2017 Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago, MOLA, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach (CA), USA.
2017 Our America: The Latino Presence in America Art, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga (TN), USA.
2017 Our America: The Latino Presence in America Art, Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City (IA), USA.
2016 Echos Imprevus/Turning Tide, Memorial Acte Museum, Guadeloupe.
2016 Home, Memory, and Future, CCCADI, Caribbean Cultural Center, New York (NY), USA.
2016 Bronx Latin American Art Biennial, Longwood Art Gallery, Hostos Community College, Bronx (NY), USA.
2016 Our America: The Latino Presence in America Art, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington (DE), USA.
2015 Unpacking Hispañola, Taller Puertorriqueño, Philadelphia (PA), USA.
2015 Bring in the Reality, No Longer Empty, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Manhattan (NY), USA.
2015 Testimony across the disciplines, Queensborough Community College, The Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives, Queens (NY), USA.
2015 The House on Mango Street: Artists Interpret Community, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago (IL), USA.
2015 Our America: The Latino Presence in America Art, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock (AR), USA.
2015 Our America: The Latino Presence in America Art, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City (UT), USA.
2014 Bric Biennial: Volume I, Downtown Gallery, Brooklyn (NY), USA.
2014 If you build it/Sugar Hill, No Longer Empty, Manhattan (NY), USA.
2014 The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami (FL), USA.
2014 Our America: The Latino Presence in America Art, The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami (FL), USA.
2014 Our America: The Latino Presence in America Art, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento (CA), USA.
2012 Fallen Angels: in the studio, Art in Embassies, Montevideo, Uruguay.
2012 This Side of Paradise: No Longer Empty, The Formerly Rich, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx (NY), USA.
2012 El Panal/The Hive, Trienal poli/gráfica de San Juan, Casa de Los Contrafuertes, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2011 Loosely Coupled, Governor’s Island, New York (NY), USA.
2011 About Change, World Bank, Washington (DC), USA.
2011 Manifestaciones, Printmaking Portfolio, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo (DR), Dominican Republic.
2011 Manifestaciones, Printmaking Portfolio, University of California Art Gallery, Washington (DC), USA.
2011 Manifestaciones, Printmaking Portfolio, Empire State College Art Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
2011 Manifestaciones, Printmaking Portfolio, Dominican Studies Institute, City College of New York, New York (NY), USA.
2011 Etnia-Art Fair, Espacio Latinoamericano, Brussels, Belgium.
2011 On Paper, Abro Gallery, Miami (FL), USA.
2011 Dream Box, District & Co. – The Gallery, Santo Domingo (DR), Dominican Republic.
2009 Back to Back/Face to Face, Art of Haiti and The Dominican Republic, Embassy of Haiti, Washington (DC), USA.
2009 7 Islands/7 Artists, Embassy of Venezuela, Washington (DC), USA.
2009 Bienal de Arte Interactivo, Museo de Mérida, Mérida, Mexico.
2008 Labyrinth, Exit Art, New York (NY), USA.
2008 In Response: Summer Projects, Glyndor Gallery, Bronx (NY), USA.
2007 Away, femmes diaspora créativité et dialogue intercultural, UNESCO, Paris, France.
2006 This Skin I’m In, El Museo del Barrio, New York (NY), USA.
2006 Merengue: Visual Rhythm, El Museo del Barrio, New York (NY), USA.
2006 Drawing Stage, City Without Walls, curated by Carmen Ramos, Newark (NJ), USA.
2005 Suite Quisqueya, District & Co. – The Gallery, Santo Domingo (DR), Dominican Republic.
2005 Emerge 6: On Locations, Aljira, curated by Lilly Wei, Newark (NJ), USA.
2005 Dominicanazo!!, Samson Projects, Boston (MA), USA.
2005 Bayennale at Somarts, South Market Arts Center, San Francisco (CA), USA.
2004 Trienal Poligráfica de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2004 The Black Atlantic, Haus der Kulture der Welt, Berlin, Germany.
2004 A Celebration of Art and Entrepreneurship, Queens Museum of Art, Queens (NY), USA.
2003 V Caribbean Biennial, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo (DR), Dominican Republic.
2003 Bootlegender, Longwood Art Gallery, Hostos, Bronx (NY), USA.
2003 The Caribbean Abroad: Contemporary Artists and Latino Migration, The Newark Museum, Newark (NJ), USA.
2003 Arte Actual, Gallery Carmen Rita Perez, Casa de Campo, La Romana (DR), Dominican Republic.
2003 De lo Que Soy (What I’m Of), Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx (NY), USA.
2002 Arte Actual, Gallery Carmen Rita Perez, Casa de Campo, La Romana (DR), Dominican Republic.
2002 To Scale, The Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn (NY), USA.
2002 Slam Video Film Festival, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn (NY), USA.
2002 The S-Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York (NY), USA.
2000 NY Cow Parade, El Museo Del Barrio and the Bravo Group, New York (NY), USA.
2000 Poetry and Politics of Art Books, Yale University, New Haven (CT), USA.
2000 Known Territories, Salena Gallery at Long Island University, Brooklyn (NY), USA.
2000 SDQ-JFK, The Carriage House, New York (NY), USA.
2000 Family, Fission and Fusion: La Hispaniola, ImarishaArt House, Brooklyn (NY), USA.
2000 Disorienting Signs, Leonora Vega Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
1998 Sound Fates, Leonora Vega Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
1998 The Circle Comes Around: Recent Art from the Dominican Republic, Aaron Davis Hall, The Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean, New York (NY), USA.
1998 Inaugural Exhibition, Leonora Vega Gallery, New York (NY), USA.
1997 The New American Art Show, Tweed Gallery at City Hall, New York (NY), USA.
1997 Emerging Latino Artists in NY, Queens Theater in the Park, Queens (NY), USA.
1996 International Painting Biennial, Haute de Cagnes, France, representing the Dominican Republic.
1996 Circuito, Ultimo Arte Gallery, Santo Domingo (DR), Dominican Republic.
1996 Manifesto, Mary Anthony Galleries, New York (NY), USA.
1995 Bienal Nacional de Artes Visuales, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo (DR), Dominican Republic.
1994 One Foot Here, One Foot There, Ossaye Gallery, Santo Domingo (DR), Dominican Republic.
1992 500 Yolas, Hostos Community College, Bronx (NY), USA.
1992 Impact of Two Worlds, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven (CT), USA.
1992 Galleries of Krasdale Foods, New York (NY), USA.
1992 Crossings, 2nd Part Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven (CT), USA.
1991 Henry Street Settlement, Luis Abrons Art Center, New York (NY), USA.
1991 Dominican Artists Beyond Borders, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo (DR), Dominican Republic.
Awards and distinctions
2020 Colene Brown/Bric, Art Prize, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
2017 Artist in Residence, The Joan Mitchell Foundation Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
2015 Joan Mitchell Foundation/Painters & Sculptors Grant Recipient.
2012 Selected by the IUPLR to create the image for the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Inter-University Program of Latino Research Siglo XXI: Forging the Future of Latinos in a Time of Crisis, Dominican Studies Institute, CUNY, New York City, USA (Artwork titled: Talking the Talk, Walking the Walk).
2007 Honored at The 8th International Conference on Women Writers of The Spanish Caribbean: On Diaspora Homecoming, Hostos Community College, XUNY, New York, USA.
2006 Nominee, Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant.
2005 Finalist, Public Art Project, Percent for the Arts, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs.
Recipient, Lehman College Art Gallery Grant.
2004 Emerge 6, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
Nominee, Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant.
2000 Panelist, The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
1999 Dominican Selection for Solo Exhibition, Cuban Biennale.
1996 Selected by Museo de Arte Moderno de Santo Domingo to represent the Dominican Republic at the International Biennial of Paintings, Haute de Cagnes, France.
1995 Artist-in-Residence at Altos de Chavón/The School of Design, Dominican Republic.
1994 Selected by the Hispanic Heritage Committee for the City of New York to develop three posters for the Hispanic Heritage celebration.
1988 Artwork selected for Parsons School of Design Academic Catalog.
1988 Artwork selected for Parsons School of Design Fine Arts and Illustration Senior Exhibition Invitation.
1988 Artwork selected for Fine Arts and Illustration Department at Parsons for Graduation Invitation.
1986-88 Parsons Institutional Scholarship and the Dana Work Program, Parsons School of Design, New York, New York, USA.
Public Collections
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), LA, USA.
Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, North Carolina, USA.
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA.
Hudson River Museum, NY, USA.
Blanton Museum, Austin, TX, USA.
Andrew Mellon Foundation, NY, USA.
Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA.
Plattsburgh State Art Museum, Plattsburgh, NY, USA.
Museum of the Americas (AMA), Washington, DC, USA.
Popular Bank Art Collection, Santo Domingo, DR.
Casa Mella Russo, Santo Domingo, DR.
E. León Jiménez Center, Santiago, DR.
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana, USA.
Barceló Public Collection, Santo Domingo, DR.
Cariforo Institute, Santo Domingo, DR.
The Children’s Hospital of New York Presbyterian, NY, USA.
Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT, USA.
Customs General Directorate Art Collection, Santo Domingo, DR.
El Museo del Barrio, NY, USA.
Centro de Arte Nouveau Foundation, Santo Domingo, DR.
Joan Guaita Art Collection, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Mary Anthony Galleries, New Hope, PA, USA.
Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, DR.
National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
Palacio Nacional de la República Dominicana, Santo Domingo, DR.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA.