Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Ishmael Randall Weeks

Lima, Peru

Born 1976, Cusco, Peru

Visual Artist

Issues of place, transformation, escape, collapse and nomadic existence have been predominant in my recent work. The materials employed are specific to the sculptural situation, but tend to come out of both societies and my own debris. I rarely use the materials in their original form but rather prefer to transform them into semi-functional building blocks that depend on the historical and symbolic reference inherent in the material. Wood from specific trees cut down on or around construction sites, boat parts from ship graveyards, inner tubes and tires, collected newspapers, plastic water bottles, steel barrels, and old chairs, are some of the materials that have been incorporated into my work. These materials are altered to form architectural spaces, rustic carts, cranes, canals, etc. that potentially could have a use and/or movement but instead are refused the possibility of that utility (in an economically productive sense) in favor of an allegorical narrative within a personal and shared cultural vocabulary.

2000 B.A. honors, Bard College

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008 Refugio. Galería Lucia de La Puente, Lima, Perú

2007 Galeria Lucia de La Puente, Lima, Perú

2006 Estructuras, Simulacros, Galeria German Kruger Espantoso, Lima, Perú

2004 Rocoq, rocoq, pultin, Match Art Space, New York

2004 Terra Funga, Casa de Cultura, Cusco, Perú

2000 Essentially Linear, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2008 Al Natural, Dibujo Nuevo. Sala Raul Porras Barrenechea, Lima, Perú

2008 La Construcción del Lugar Común. Contemporary Art Museum, Lima, Perú

2007 *10º 00 S. 76º 00 *W. Galería Leme, Sao Paulo, Brazil

2007 Popular-Pop. Lima Art Museum (MALI), Lima, Perú (curated by Rodrigo Quijano)

2007 Isla. Open Space, ARTE BA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2007 Nomade. IX Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador (national selection)

2007 Legado Para el Futuro: The Permanent Collection 2005-2007, Lima Art Museum (MALI), Lima, Perú

2006 Arte y Urbe. National Museum, Lima, Perú

2006 EO IPSO. Match Art Space, New York, USA

2006 Cambios Estructurales. Museum of San Marcos, Lima, Perú

2005 Viceversa, Match Art Space, New York

2005 Vitaminas, Impromptu Gallery, Trujillo, Perú

2005 Noche de Arte, National Museum, Lima, Perú

2004 Frei Raume, Frei Still, e.v. Art Space, Berlin

2003 On wheels, Vermont Studio Art Center, Vermont

2000 Constellation, Fisher Arts Center, New York

SELECTED AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

2008 Art Matters Foundation Award

2008 Kiosko Art Residency, Santa Cruz, Bolivia

2008 Sculpture Space Residency

2007 Honorary Mention – IX Cuenca Bienal, Ecuador

2007 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture

2005/6 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant

2003 Vermont Studio Art Center Fellowship

2000 Bard College Project Grant

1998 Touraine Institute Residency, Tour, France