José Antonio Hernández-Diez

José António Hernández-Diez (1964, Caracas, Venezuela) studied at the Centro de Formación Cinematográfica of Caracas and belongs to a new generation of Venezuelan artists from the end of the 1980’s. He uses urban materials such as skates, tennis shoes, audio equipment and bicycles to develop a personal iconography centred in familiar objects, at times domestic. These common materials become extraordinary with the artist’s provocative and humoristic use, manipulating the objects, many times reconfiguring them in such a way that he inscribes them into daily life with a philosophical and emotional resonance, by means of references to Venezuelan culture, frequently combined with a globalised pop culture. He participated in important exhibitions, including Las lágrimas de las cosas, Fundación Helga de Avelar, Caceres, Spain (2015); 93, Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2014); Los Impoliticos, Espacio Arte Contemporáneo, Montevideo, Uruguai (2012); Unresolved circumstances: Video art from Latin America, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, USA (2011); Risk zones, Museum of World Culture, Gottenburg, Sweden (2010): Zones de risc, Colleció d’Art Contemporani de la Fundació La Caixa, CaixaForum, Barcelona and Madrid, Spain (2008); Fortunate objects: selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, USA (2007); Além das Fronteiras, the 1^st Gwangiu Biennial, Popular Republic of China (1995); Cocido y crudo (O Cozido e o Cru), Museu Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain (1994); Aperto’93: Emergency / Emergenzia, 45^th Venice Bienale , Italy (1993). He had solo exhibitions at Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (2016); Monumento 2018, KaBe Contemporary, Miami, USA (2015); New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2003); Institute of Visual Arts, Milwaukee, USA (2002); Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (2002); Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2000).

 

PS, November 2020