BIOGRAPHY
Anaida Hernández received a BFA, from University of PR, Mayagüez Campus, Puerto Rico, in 1974; MFA in Printmaking from San Carlos School, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), CDMX, México, 1977.
Anaida Hernandez is a contemporary artist who is inserted in the current state of art using multiple media.
Hernández transforms the exhibition space with interactive - immersive installations, paintings and objects to create a unique experience where many senses are used. Hernández works in multiple interconnected media that range from large-scale installations, public art, sculpture, painting, engraving, mosaics, videos documentary and technology in various forms.
Her experience is derived from her own biography that attests to her prolific career from the spaces in which she has lived: Puerto Rico, Mexico and New York. She has a trajectory of more than three decades known for her investigative, experimental and hybrid approach that incorporates the viewer in many of her works. The resulting hybrid format images examine ways in which human rights are globally threatened in the current times of conflict and vulnerability, as well as the political and cultural colonial status of Puerto Rico. In her practice, she explores social and cultural issues on gender equity, immigration, identity memory, environment and colonialism.
During her experience in the city of New York (1996 -2008) Hernández exhibited and became involved in collaborative and community projects that create links between institutions, museums and communities. Some projects include, Illegal Games, 1999, a solo show commissioned by the New Museum. This large-scale interactive installation represents borders - one of the experiences of immigrants. Hernández invites visitors to enter a disorienting labyrinth, of corridors and rooms to try their luck at games of fortune and thereby experience life as it is lived by the undocumented immigrant. This metaphorical rite of passage mirrors the difficult conditions endured by immigrants seeking refuge in another country.
ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 1999: ART IMITATES LIFE; (Real) Games (Real) People Play - The New York Times
Shared Secrets, Tenement Museum, 2000, interactive installation in collaboration with immigrants from Lower East Side, NY., explores the secrets and vulnerability of the immigrant, among others.
Hernández is considered by the critic, one of the pioneers addressing the issue of violence against women and in contemporary Caribbean and Latin American art.
Until death do us part, 1992 -1994, is an emblematic installation in the career of Hernández, on the theme of domestic violence. It has been presented in 5 countries of North and Central America, Caribbean and Europe, 7 cities and 9 museums, galleries and public spaces. History where it has been presented: 1994 in the Capitol of, San Juan, Puerto Rico; IV Biennial of Havana, Museum of Fine Arts, Cuba; Ludwig Forum Museum, Ahem, Germany; Raíces Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico; 1995 at the Museum of Art and Design, San José, Costa Rica, 1998 at the Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY; 2001 at the Hostos Community College Gallery, Bronx, NY; 2004;at the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico (MAPR) in the context of the middle - care e exhibition Anaida Hernández, Código Secreto - (selection of works from 1994 to 2004). It is currently part of the permanent collection. Anaida_Hernandez_Home_Page
Papa Caliente, 2001, is an installation alluding to the problems that represented the US Navy in Puerto Rico where the artist talks about the bombing and the militarization of the island and acts of violence against the colony of Puerto Rico.
(30) We want to live in peace (Papa Caliente) - YouTube
(30) We want to live in peace (Papa Caliente) - YouTube
In the improvised documentary videos, Hernández uses techniques that reveal new and rich perspectives by incorporating powerful visual narratives, capturing characters in fortuitous encounters, interweaving archive material, including stop motion made by the artist; reaffirming the documentary as a means of powerful art to highlight the implications of social conflict that are often not seen. The Código Mágico Street, the walking of women, 2016, is a transatlantic film project of women's stories told by women from Puerto Rico and Ecuador, commissioned by WIPR - (public television of Puerto Rico) in collaboration with the Galería Arte Actual, Universidad de Social Sciences FLASCO, Quito Ecuador. It explores the invisibility of women in official history. Anaida proposes walking adrift, as an aesthetic proposal and fortuitous encounters as symbolic actions. The Código Mágico Street is currently being presented by WIPR -TV, Puerto Rico on its Web Site.
Código Mágico Street: El Andar de las Mujeres en Quito - Current Art FLACSO
Código Mágico Street: El Andar de las Mujeres en Quito - Current Art FLACSO
Hernández is an award-winning documentary director and producer who has presented at TV programs, festivals, universities and cultural centers. Los Peloteros y el Tiempo (segment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmenYG-ehI . ) Other works: Two minutes NY, Channel 6, TV program, PR, Emmy Award Nominee 2003 as director and producer; The Time, memories of silence (segment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmenYG-ehI ) , San Juan Cinema Fest, Puerto Rico, Best Documentary, 2005. Anaida Hernández was selected by Puerto Rico Film Commission and Maramara Film to produce and direct Mike Amadeo, a segment of the award winning 10 en la Música documentary, 2009.
Hernández's recent work, Hanging Garden, Floating Garden, 2016-2017 - work-in-progress, is a hybrid and changing project, where Hernández delves into the social and colonial implications of Puerto Rico. After a long career as an interdisciplinary artist, Hernández returns to her roots coming into contact with the earth as a gardener, incorporating new creative forms by joining art, floriculture and the environment. On the roof of her studio, she begun grew unusual and idyllic flowers, aerial plants (epiphytes which do not need soil to survive) for produce "living installations", plants tinctoreal to make her own paintings as raw material. Hernández re-initiated the project, before the hurricane María, collecting debris from the trees left to incorporate it into the garden as sculptural material.
Hernández has a strong background and experience as an educator. For her academic achievements, artistic and extensive experience she has been invited as Artist-in-Residence in Puerto Rico and the U.S.:Brodsky Center, Rutgers University, NJ; Grand Center, Art Center, Cal State University, Cal; Hostos Community College, CUNY, Bronx, NY; Lehman College, Bronx, NY; John Jay College, CUNY, NYC; Harvard University, Boston, Mass; Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, IL. ; Caribbean University, Bayamón, PR, among others.
Hernández’s projects have received support from Puerto Rico Film Commission; Channel 6 TV - PR public broadcasting; New Museum, NY; Contemporary Art Museum of Puerto Rico; Public Art Program of Puerto Rico; Puerto Rico Senate; Women's Advocacy Office of PR; Hostos Community College, CUNY; Lilly’s Foundation, Santander; Institute of Puertorrican Culture; Ludwig Forum Museum; David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; Havana Biennal; Lehman College Art Gallery; John Jay Criminal College Art Gallery; Artist Residence Program at Brodsky Center; Grant Center Art Center; Robert Blackburn Workshop, Caribbean University; and others.
Hernández has represented Puerto Rico in international forums where her achievements and commitment to the arts and education have been recognized. She has received multiple awards, distinctions and recognitions, among which are: Best installation of the year 1994 by the International Association of Art Critics, PR Chapter, for "Until death do us part"; Goya Silver Medal, Biennial of Engraving, 1996, México, for "The Disaster of Drug Trafficking"; Best Solo Exhibition for "Código Secreto",Puerto Rico Art Museum (MAPR), 2004; Pitirre Award, Best National Documentary, San Juan Cinemafest, 2005 for the documentary The Times,(segmento) "LOS PELOTEROS" and "EL TIEMPO" at the Puerto Rican Film Series - YouTube; Proclamations and recognitions of the Governor Sila María Calderón, 2004; Department of State, 2004; Women's Advocacy Office, 2004; Senate of Puerto Rico, 2004; Municipality of San Juan and Mayagüez cities, 2004, among other recognitions.
Anaida’s artwork has been reviewed in numerous newspaper and art magazines, among them, The New York Times: on Sunday, January 24, 1999 - Art Imitates Life (Real) Games (Real) People Play; New York Times, 1998, Art One Show Ponders a Cause and the Other Reviews a Heritage - Buscar con Google; New York Times, 1998, Art One Show Ponders a Cause and the Other Reviews a Heritage. New York Times, 1998, Art One Show Ponders a Cause and the Other Reviews a Heritage - Buscar con Google
Hernández's artwork is included in many public and private collections around the world, among them: The World Bank, Washington, DC; Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Museum of Art and Design of San José, Costa Rica; Ludwig Forum Museum, Germany; Boston Museum; Art Museum of Puerto Rico (MAPR); Contemporary Art Museum of Puerto Rico, (MAC); Institute of Puerto Rican Culture , PR; Art Museum of the Americas; Organization of American States, Washington, DC; Fine Art Museum of Havana; Jerusalem City Hall, among others.
