TERESITA FERNÁNDEZ

Inspired by the landscape and natural phenomena as well as diverse historical and cultural references, Fernández presents a group of new works for her second exhibition with Almine Rech Gallery that collectively demonstrate her remarkable ability to transform materials into unique perceptual experiences. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition in London.

Fernández’s new Golden paintings, made with India ink on reflective metallic panels, continue the artist’s inquiries into materiality, landscape painting, mining, the connections between the cosmos and the subterranean, and the cultural significance of gold.

The thick, visceral layer of ink marks on top of the mirror-like surface explores painterly conventions of figure-in-the-landscape by superimposing the viewer’s own distorted reflection into the image. Shifting reflections animate the landscape scenes into almost gestural, real-time cinematic dissolves where the viewer becomes engaged in the immersive, experiential quality the work.

Fernández’s intense research and investigation into the materiality of gold and the convention of landscape can also be seen in her large-scale exhibition of sculptures and installations titled As Above So Below, on view at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Massachusetts through March 2015.

Teresita Fernández (b. 1968, Miami, Florida) is a conceptual artist whose work is characterized by an interest in perception and the psychology of looking. Her experiential, large-scale works are often inspired by landscape and natural phenomena as well as diverse historical and cultural references. She is a 2005 MacArthur Foundation Fellow and the recipient of many prestigious awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Artist’s Grant, an American Academy in Rome Affiliated Fellowship, and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award. Appointed by President Obama, Fernández served from 2011-2014 on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a federal panel that advises the President, Congress, and governmental agencies on national matters of design and aesthetics.

Fernández’s works are included in many major collections and have been exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth, Texas; The Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.; Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Centro de Arte Contemporaneo, Spain; and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia. Fernández is currently on the board of Artpace, a non- profit, international artist’s residency program. She received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and her BFA from Florida International University. The artist lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.