Artist in Residence
José Luis Torres worked outdoors from July 8 to July 15 on a new and exciting permanent sculpture to be part of the new Culture Garden.
Originally from Argentina, José has been based in Québec since 2003. His recent work, titled Nomadic Landscape presents a paradigm of reflections on his experience of emigration. Sculptural forms made of raw wood and packed earth convey the physical experience of displacement and change of environment.
Using ancestral techniques of construction, José builds sculptures that express the intimate and internal experience of being uprooted and having to adapt.
José has exhibited in Argentina and extensively across Canada. This year he has scheduled solo exhibitions at Maison des artistes visuels francophones de St- Boniface in Manitoba, at MAI (Maison, arts interculturels) in Montreal, at the Centre d’exposition Léo-Ayotte in Shawinigan, and he is participating in a group show at the Musée d’art contemporain des Laurentides in Saint-Jerôme.
He will also be in a residency at Praxis art actuel in Sainte-Thérèse. In 2008 he received a visual arts grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and one from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. José has taught sculpture in both Argentina and in Canada, has created permanent sculptures in public spaces across the world, has participated in international symposiums, and has received a long list of awards and distinctions for his work.
Gallery Connexion gratefully acknowledges the support of its membership, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Province of New Brunswick, the City of Fredericton, Artsnb, and the New Brunswick Foundation for the Arts. The Charlotte Street Arts Centre also gives thanks to the City of Fredericton for its support.