Papo Colo

Last updated
Papo Colo
Born
Francisco Colón Quintero

(1946-08-12) August 12, 1946 (age 79)
Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Notable workSuperman 51 (1977)
Against the Current (1983)
AwardsThe Franklin Furnace FUND for Performance Art (1987)
Guggenheim Fellowship (1991)
National Endowment for the Arts (1991)

Papo Colo (b. August 12, 1946) is a Puerto Rican transdisciplinary artist whose practice spans performance, visual art, and cultural activism. Best known for his groundbreaking performance works and for cofounding the influential New York alternative art space Exit Art, Colo has shaped critical dialogues on identity, politics, and the environment for more than five decades. He lives and works between New York City and the El Yunque rainforest in Puerto Rico.

Contents

Early life and education

At the age of 18, Papo Colo left his native Puerto Rico to begin working as a merchant marine, marking the start of a life shaped by movement, migration, and transoceanic experience. After returning to the island in 1971, he falsified a diploma from the University of Puerto Rico as his first conceptual art piece. [1] In New York he studied under the tutelage of the poet Nicanor Parra at Columbia University. His interest in pre-Columbian and Latin American cultures led him to travel across Mexico for a year. From 1973 through 1980 he lived and worked between New York City and Barcelona. During these years he did a series of performances involving physical endurance with political undertones. He is best known for Superman 51, which consisted of the artist running with 51 blocks tied to his back on the West Side Highway until exhaustion. His father, Francisco Colón Garcia, [2] [3] was a boxing champion and his exposure to the glorification of the body through boxing was influential to his work.

Exit Art

In 1982, Papo Colo with Jeanette Ingberman, founded Exit Art, [4] [5] an internationally known cultural center in New York City. In 1992 he founded the Trickster Theater, an experimental multilingual and multicultural theater company. [6] [7] The company served as an integral part of Exit Art's discourse and was held on the lower level of its facilities. In 2005 he wrote and directed Mplay, a theater piece created solely for the web. He has won numerous awards including The New York Times Best Inaugural Show by an Alternative Art Space for his exhibition Exit Biennial: Reconstruction [8] Additionally, REACTIONS, an international response to 9/11 conceived by Papo Colo, was acquired by The Library of Congress for its permanent collection [9] Jeanette Ingberman died August 24, 2011, from complications of leukemia.

Artistic Career

In addition to serving as the curator and cultural producer of Exit Art, Papo Colo has organized over 100 exhibitions, often taking on the roles of both exhibition and graphic designer. Papo Colo's work has been widely exhibited at institutions, including The Clocktower, NY (2013); Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco (2009); El Museo del Barrio, NY (2008); National Gallery of Puerto Rico, PR (2007); Grey Art Gallery (2006); Art in General (2006); RISD Museum, Providence (2005); Barnes Foundation, PA (2017); and The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (2001).

In 2009, MoMA PS1 [10] presented a retrospective of his early work, curated by Klaus Biesenbach. The exhibition coincided with The Cleaner, a new performance staged in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, and culminated in Procesión Migración, a public performance reflecting on the ongoing migration of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland.

Colo is currently developing Pangea Art Republic, a new alternative art space situated in the El Yunque Rainforest of Puerto Rico.

Awards

In 1991 Colo received a Guggenheim Fellowship, an award that is bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated distinguished accomplishment in the past and potential for future achievement.

Documentation of Papo Colo's Superman 51, 1977 Colo Papo Superman.jpg
Documentation of Papo Colo's Superman 51, 1977

Notable works in public collections

Selected exhibitions

Solo

Group

References

  1. ↑ ""I Am an Invented Character": A Performance Artist on Living in His Utopia". Hyperallergic. 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
  2. ↑ Torres, Juan. "Peleas del boxeador Francisco Colón García" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "Francisco Colon Garcia - BoxRec" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Gomez, Edward M. (16 April 2000). "An Offbeat Outpost Attains Longevity And Ponders Why". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  5. ↑ C.Carr (11 March 2003). "Every Exit Is an Entrance" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "Trickstertheater.org" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Trickster Theater". YouTube . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Smith, Roberta (28 December 2003). "ART: THE HIGHS; The Art and Artists Of the Year". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Exit Art's "Reactions" Exhibition Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress)". Library of Congress . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "MoMA PS1: Exhibitions: Papo Colo" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Galería de la Raza: Digital Mural Project: Papo Colo" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "Island Nations RISD Museum of Art Providence" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Grey Art Gallery".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.