A leading figure in contemporary art, Candida Alvarez is an American painter and studio artist renowned for her dynamic use of color and bold experimentation. Her vibrant works seamlessly blend abstract and figurative elements, earning her recognition as one of the world’s most innovative painters. Alvarez’s work has been collected by prominent private collections and institutions worldwide, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
Finding inspiration in the idyllic setting of her barn-turned art studio, nestled amidst the tranquil beauty of Baroda, Michigan, near the shores of Lake Michigan, Alvarez admirably translates her artistic vision across mediums. The celebrated painter once collaborated with fashion rebel Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, and notably, music artist Pharrell Williams sported one of these collaborative pieces in a December 2019 Vogue article, photographed by Mario Testino.
The Brooklyn native’s striking compositions and unique aesthetic transcend the canvas, connecting the intimate scale of fashion collaborations to the grander scope of public art. Seeing her paintings move in space expands our understanding of how art can transform a space. Layered imagery, like a choreographed dance, invites repeated viewings, revealing new depths and hidden narratives with each encounter.
Her previous work includes the impressive “Howlings-Soft Painting,” a 27ft x 200ft mural that transformed the Chicago Riverwalk into a cinematic spectacle. When discussing her interest in large-scale public art projects, Alvarez shared,
“Well, I love large scale. I love being in a building and sensing that as a boundary. You know? I love the opportunity to work bigger with architecture, perhaps in the future. I’ve done a two-story space at the Fashion Outlets surrounding an elevator back there. It’s a weird space, but it was an opportunity to see what would happen to see this work go up. I’ve done wallpaper on a huge wall in Arles, France. It was as a result of a residency that Laura Owens and the LUMA Foundation (Arles, FR) put together. So slowly but surely, I’m having these opportunities to see what happens in in real time. You know, when the work becomes part of a real living space. And how it moves, and how it can affect you. it’s fun. It’s good. It’s a good opportunity. There’ll be some other things happening at the JFK, one of the new terminals, where I’ll have a mosaic, you’ll be able to walk into one of my works.”
Alvarez’s work, often imbued with a sense of mystery and intrigue, translates personal experiences and cultural observations into a visual language that is both intimate and universal. An alum of the Yale School of Art, Alvarez divides her time between the dynamic energy of New York City and Chicago and the serene inspiration of her Michigan retreat. Reflecting on her journey, she humbly admits, “I never thought that I would be doing this for my life’s work. I never even knew that this could be a vocation or a profession.”
Art Talk at The Cooper Union. Candida Alvarez shares her artistic journey in December 2024. Photo by Alexander Fatouros
Zip me up, 2022. Fashion Outlets of Chicago. Courtesy of the Artist and Monique Meloche Gallery
A painter of Puerto Rican heritage, Alvarez is a professor of painting and drawing at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She provides a detailed glimpse into her creative process and the personal inspiration behind the “Flor de Caballo” series.
“I did a series called Flor de Caballo, which was basically Flor which means flower, and Caballo, which means horse. I was thinking about the beginning and sort of the ending of a long career in teaching at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and what it was about 20 years right? So I wanted to make a series of paintings that sort of orbited this world. And so I decided that I would begin with one of the first pieces that my eyes gazed upon when I went to the museum, because the first thing I did was go to the museum before I went into the school. And so it was a terracotta piece from the Tang Dynasty. And it’s this beautiful woman. It’s a woman on a horse, and it’s always there. And it’s just lovely. And I just love the terracottas. And I went there, and I could never forget that piece. And I always go back looking for it and hope. And thankfully, it’s always there. And so I use that as a beginning point, and then I wanted to juxtapose that with an image of a flower that was actually gifted to me at the time of the pandemic, and it was an orchid.”
Flor de Caballo 3, 2022. Acrylic on linen. Courtesy of the Artist, Candida Alvarez. Photo Tom Van Eynde
Alvarez is currently preparing for an exhibition at the GRAY NEW YORK gallery. Her work will be featured alongside pieces by Bob Thompson, an artist whose work has influenced her own practice. She explained that she feels a connection to Thompson’s work, particularly its biblical themes and expressive style. “So I’m having a conversation with Bob Thompson right now in my studio. And so I’m having a ball. And I learned about him in the 1990s when I was a student at Yale getting my MFA, there was a PhD candidate, Judith Wilson, who was writing on Bob Thompson. And so I learned a ton of him, you know about him from her,” she says, “…his works were so biblical, in a way… One of my first source books was the Bible too.”
Mary in the Sky with Diamonds, 2005. Collection of The Art Institute of Chicago.
Courtesy of the Artist and Monique Meloche Gallery. Photo Tom Van Eynde
“The idea of using books and photos is really important to the work,” Alvarez stated, highlighting the role of research and historical context in her artistic process. She explained that her paintings draw inspiration from various sources, including photographs, books, and narratives, which then undergo a process of abstraction and transformation.
Mostly Cloudy, 2023. Collection of the Denver Art Museum. Courtesy of the Artist and Monique Meloche Gallery. Image credit Tom Van Eynde
“There’s a whole range of works that I admire and look at,” she explains. The artist’s fascination with Picasso’s “Three Musicians” is evident. To grapple with his legacy, to understand how he continues to resonate even today, she explores that puzzle. “And so I just thought it was funny, because it was like the 100 years [anniversary] of the ‘Three Musicians’—that painting with the dog underneath the table, you know? Yeah, and so I’ve been puzzled by that painting. It’s weird. And so I decided I would deal with a puzzle, like I’m trying to dismantle and understand that painting. And so I just did a series of painting called ‘Pica. Pica,’ which is like, ‘itch,’ like, ‘Picasso,’ you’re itching me. It’s kind of I want to get rid of you, but, you know, I can’t, because you’re so like everywhere, right? Structurally, it’s very beautiful. I love the idea that there’s an animal, but there’s also this geometry. And so for me, that clash is really important.”
Nueva York, 1991. lithograph. Collection of Whitney Museum of Art. Courtesy of the Artist, Candida Alvarez.
Emphasizing her rejection of easy categorization and her belief that the power of her work lies in its ability to transcend simple labels like “abstraction,” Alvarez offers a nuanced perspective on her artistic style.
Partly Cloudy, 2023. Acrylic, paint pen, glitter on linen. Private Collection. Courtesy of the Artist and Monique Meloche Gallery. Photo Tom Van Eynde
“If I had a signature style, I’d be dead. So I feel I don’t want to have a signature style. I just want to be known as an artist who was committed to using color and who was eternally grateful to drawing as as a beginning point. Drawing is so fundamentally important in everything you know? From our handwriting to everything. You have to learn how to write your name, right? But drawing is fundamentally important. That’s how it all began, and painting.”
“I have the courage to trust something that I can’t name all the time, like I don’t want to name it, like, I mean, abstraction is already such a big word and loaded word that it drives me nuts sometimes, because people want to compartmentalize painting, and for me, a painting doesn’t work if it’s compartmentalized. Only works if it stays alive after so many years,” said Alvarez.
“Abstraction is how we receive information,” Alvarez explains. “I think the best paintings are the ones that are like magnets. They just draw you into them, and they hold you formally. Because there’s where we learn, you know? I’ve learned about composition and why the paintings work and how to keep the eye revolving through a painting. And so the longer you can keep an eye revolving, there is such a thing as a beginning point in every painting, and it’s where your eyes begin to enter. And then it goes around and around and around, depending on how good the [artist] is, you know, negotiates all of that, right? It’s and how the colors allow one to move with that compositional story, right? It’s what makes a painting work.”
Skowhegan no. 6, 2023. Courtesy of the Artist and Monique Meloche Gallery. Image credit Tom Van Eynd
“Painting is a language,” she explains, emphasizing her view of painting as a powerful means of communication and expression, akin to language. “Painting is knowledge, right? It’s not a knowledge that you can just buy or define.” Instead, it’s a journey of self-discovery, a way to “track a sort of a life story” and “embody a kind of presentness.” She describes the process as “pleasurable,” emphasizing the importance of finding joy and peace within the act of creation. “I want my work to embody a kind of presentness,” she states.
For Alvarez, the act of painting is a deeply personal and intuitive process. “The process takes on its own, its own thing,” she says. “It just becomes the painting, becomes itself through all the negotiations that I do… It’s about looking and, you know, just being in it, and just enjoying it too.”
Alvarez asserts that her paintings are not passive containers, but active entities that require viewer participation. “I’m just interested in sort of being very attuned to where I’m at the moment, It’s about being present with myself in that moment that I’m making that painting. The painting only works because the viewer is looking at it,” she continued. “I like to think of it as living piece… it’s what holds the paintings together. It’s the chattiness.”
Between Two Things, From Air Paintings, 2019 latex ink, acrylic, and collage on PVC mesh with aluminum and wood. Monique Meloche Gallery.
Celebrated painter Candida Alvarez. Photo by Sarah Ayers
Baroda, Michigan. Courtesy Candida Alvarez Studio. Photo by Sarah Ayers
“It’s really about tracking a sort of a life story in a way, you know a way to track an everyday occurrence or something that stood out.” She also emphasizes the unexpected, stating, “But then there’s sometimes I like having something kind of that you don’t expect, like something sparkly.” She continued, adding “There’s something about the way a color can hug you or the way a color can sort of hold you, pin you down and not want to let you go.”
Mostly Clear, 2023. Courtesy of the Artist and Monique Meloche Gallery. Image credit Tom Van Eynde
Alvarez’s paintings possess an almost performative quality. Her bold, vibrant colors create a dynamic energy that pulls viewers in. “A painting will change right in front of your eyes, depending on the lighting.” This sense of constant evolution, a touch of the ephemeral, mirrors the fleeting nature of performance art.
“It’s just fun. It’s fun, you know, it’s also very quiet. It’s a very quiet experience. It’s a kind of a mystery,” she said. Her work often exudes a vibrant sense of freedom, evident in the dynamic interplay of colors and the expressive, almost gestural quality of her brushstrokes. Her thoughtful approach to material selection is evident in her use of acrylic on canvas, oil on wood panels, and oil on birch panels.
Emphasizing a belief in the power of personal choice and the accessibility of artistic expression, she continued, adding, “We have things within us that allow us to kind of gravitate towards things that we like or not like. We have choices. We can make choices, even if we don’t have a lot of money. There’s still, you know, pencils, there’s still paper, right?”
Abstract and expressive, Candida Alvarez’s art bursts with joy, pulsates with movement, and radiates vitality. Reflecting a belief in the art’s power to uplift and inspire, her work serves as a powerful inspiration for a new generation of creative minds. Alvarez will present a major exhibition at Richard Gray Gallery in New York City opening on April 30th. She will also participate in Frieze Los Angeles in April 2025. She is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery.
This article was originally published in the New Buffalo Times on January 30, 2025, and is reposted with permission. Read the original article here.
This post was written by the author in their personal capacity.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of The Theatre Times, their staff or collaborators.
This post was written by Alexander Fatouros.
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