26:, Spain) is an artist who lives and works in New York City. Her work, in the form of installation, drawing, photography and art projects, deals with what she calls "contradictory truths", and the capacity to "create a maximum by reversing a minimum." Álava's art projects, in the form of dialogues, verbal descriptions, rumors and random encounters, explore notions of trust and intimacy, and use language as a medium to investigate the interconnections that exist between public, private, educational and interpretative aspects of art." In 2012, she was appointed Cultural Adviser to the World Council of Peoples for the
287:(2008–2009), Alava invites twenty-two artists to have a one-on-one conversation with her in an art museum when the museum is closed to the public, and to answer three questions. The visual documentation of these conversations is recorded by the security cameras of the museum but the images cannot be used for artistic purposes. The project ends when Alava personally invites the director of the museum to participate in this ephemeral and impossible-to-document art project.,
179:; "often made from the humblest of materials, her art nevertheless gives off just the faintest trace of intense and prolonged concentration. Modest in scale, frequently fragile, it makes you think not of modesty or fragility but of resistance and struggle, life and death, the largest matters. Alava has a gift for effortless reversals that she does not hesitate to use in making her mortal point." by
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documented the project. On May 14, 2010, during nine consecutive hours, the performances took place. On
October 15, 2010, TRUST ME's presentation was hosted at the Cervantes Institute in New York City. Participants met each other and saw for the first time photographs taken by Schmidt during their
338:(2013), Alava asks eleven professionals from different fields to write an essay about the possibility or impossibility of telling truths in their fields: science, law, art, journalism, politics, history. A limited soft-cover edition of 500 books were printed in 2013 by Gema Alava Studio.
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of San
Francisco. The locations remain secret—just Alava and the artists who made the pieces for FIND ME know where his/her pieces are. Alava shared general information of these locations at an Art Event at CUE Art Foundation, in New York City. Alava also hid at the Main
243:(2008), Alava invites the audience to enter a small room with nine black and white photographs depicting the struggle between a nail and a thread, both anchored to the floor. Alava does not allow anyone to see the original scenarios.
322:(2010), Alava met individually in one of two museums in New York City with eleven participants who agreed to wear opaque glasses during the time Alava performed one-on-one verbal descriptions of artworks they could not see.
199:(2000), Alava creates a quilt with handwritten business letters from 1912 that resemble love letters. The stage created for this installation disappears, piece by piece, day after day, until the gallery is empty.
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made out of more than two hundred small golden shirts hanging from thread, Alava deals with the idea of recovering memories that are in danger of being lost, especially the memories of the
Spanish Civil War.
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In 1995, she was awarded second prize in Spain's
National Penagos Drawing Competition, being the youngest artist to achieve such recognition. That same year she received an Erasmus Grant for an
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206:(2000), pieces of letters are attached with sewing pins to the wall allowing "the possibility of its own destruction if we walk or breathe too close to it."
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individual walk-throughs with Alava. Participants of Trust Me: Ellen Fisher, Mayrav Fisher, Jonathan
Goodman, Jessica Higgins, Erika Kawalek, Erika Knerr,
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Sevilla, Nacho. "La
Artista Espanola Gema Alava Crisostomo expone su obra en una galeria del Soho Neoyorquino." EUROPA PRESS, New York, February 25, 2002.
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213:(2000), Alava invites the audience to enter into an empty room with drawings on the wall made out of thread, sewing needles and shadows.
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Alava's work has been described as "minimalist studies in what might be called the qualities of fragility" by Sandra Sider, of
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Piquer, Isabel. "El Museo
Neoyorquino de Queens Recuerda el Sueno de Venus de Dali." EL PAIS, Cultura, June 23, 2003.
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magazine; "drawing (...) with thread and shadows in an almost invisible wall installation" by
Holland Cotter of
261:(2008), gold leave and tissue paper, attached to the wall with pins, move as the humidity of the room changes.
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is exhibited from
February to May at the Guggenheim Museum as part of "Cai Guo-Qiang: "I Want to Believe."
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Alava's work has been exhibited and presented internationally, including the Rana Museum in Norway; the
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and Maria Yoon, to create an artwork in order for her to hide it somewhere in New York City and the
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Sider, Sandra. "Gema Alava
Crisostomo:Funambulista." FIBERARTS MAGAZINE, New York, Jan-Feb. 2003.
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Sirefman, Susanna. "Fung Sway" SURFACE MAGAZINE, Art & Design, No.72. New York, July, 2008.
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Armada, Alfonso. "Caligrafia de la Fragilidad." Diario ABC, Madrid/New York, February 16, 2002
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87:, New York; the Margulies Art Collection at the Warehouse, Miami; the Juan Carlos I Center at
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Merino, Juan Fernando. "En Tierra de Nadie." El Diario/LA PRENSA, New York, January 13, 2002.
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Mooney, Ted. "Gema Alava: Tell Me the Truth", Artists Organized Art, New York, April 2008.
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RTVE/NCI NOTICIAS IBEROAMERICANAS. "Una performance basada en la confianza" December 2010
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64:. In 1997 she obtained a Fellowship for postgraduate studies in the United States from
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Cotter, Holland. "Artist in the Marketplace." THE NEW YORK TIMES, September 6, 2002.
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250:(2008), Alava transforms a circular installation into an oval installation at the
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Foundation. In 2002 she participated simultaneously in the Emerge Program at the
472:"Artist Organized Art | Artist Organized Media, Events And Cultural Education"
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57:, and holds a BA in Art Education from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
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Goodman, Jonathan. "GEMA ALAVA: BRAVE NEW WORLD", FronteraD, September 2010.
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810:"ABOUT NICK LEIGHTON | EMMY-AWARD WINNING JOURNALIST & PRODUCER"
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294:(2009), Alava asked artists Lars Chellberg, Barbara Holub, Paul Kos,
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RTVE - Radiotelevision Espanola Interview with Gema Alava. May 2010
45:, a B.F.A (Painting) from the Facultad de Bellas Artes de Madrid,
331:, Ferran Martin, J. Morrison, Gordon Sasaki and J. G. Zimmerman,
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610:"NCI Noticias, 2008,"Gema Alava: Conquistando la Gran Manzana"
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an artist book titled FIND ME 2.0 with the exact locations.
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8, The European Biennial. Her first solo show in NYC was at
717:"Miradas al fresco con... Gema Álava | elmundo.es videos"
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http://www.abc.es/informacion/Sueno_americano/sueno2.htm
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NCI Noticias. NCI Noticias Interview with Gema Alava 2008
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on February 2008. Alava's selected written proposal of
268:(2008), Alava establishes a conversation with artist
231:(2006), a site-specific installation commissioned by
421:"Actividades culturales del Instituto Cervantes"
37:She has received a M.F.A.(New Genres) from the
102:Participants of Alava's art projects include
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773:. December 20, 2010 – via www.rtve.es.
440:"ART IN REVIEW; 'Artist in the Marketplace'"
220:(2003), an installation commissioned by the
183:for Artists Organized Art, Senior Editor of
785:"NCI - Noticias Culturales Iberoamericanas"
741:"NCI - Noticias Culturales Iberoamericanas"
336:Tell Me the Truth/Dime la verdad, 2008-2013
145:, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the
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74:Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art
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380:Vasconcelos, El Mundo, Madrid, Spain
72:, New York, and the AIM Program at
30:. In 2021, she published the book
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51:Chelsea College of Art and Design
890:Academy of Art University alumni
771:"Con visado de calle - 04/05/10"
32:Como perder el miedo en un museo
587:New York University Press, 2006
155:the Morgan Library & Museum
438:Cotter, Holland (2002-09-06).
151:Whitney Museum of American Art
41:, a M.F.A (Painting) from the
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880:American installation artists
645:Cai Guo-Qiang, New York, 2008
359:Plum TV. Heart Happening 2010
870:Spanish installation artists
865:Spanish contemporary artists
313:San Francisco Public Library
274:Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
81:Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
39:San Francisco Art Institute
34:(Ed. El Ojo de la Cultura)
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885:Artists from New York City
875:Women installation artists
43:Academy of Art University
698:(in Spanish). 2013-10-29
550:"¡Proyectos Especiales!"
347:El Mundo Multimedia 2013
197:List of Things to Forget
143:the Museum of Modern Art
104:Miguel Álvarez-Fernández
70:Bronx Museum of the Arts
643:"Everything is Museum."
47:Universidad Complutense
391:Mario Suarez, El Pais
334:For the book project
134:, Merrill Wagner and
692:"Todas las verdades"
554:Queens Museum of Art
476:Artist Organized Art
425:cultura.cervantes.es
409:. September 4, 2011.
222:Queens Museum of Art
157:, in New York City.
85:Queens Museum of Art
55:The London Institute
860:Artists from Madrid
308:Tenderloin District
272:on the ramp of the
252:Cervantes Institute
233:New York University
147:Metropolitan Museum
89:New York University
444:The New York Times
298:, Merrill Wagner,
172:The New York Times
241:Tell Me the Truth
62:Erasmus Programme
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259:Tell Me a Story
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136:Lawrence Weiner
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296:Ester Partegàs
204:Land of No One
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185:Art in America
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124:Ester Partegas
112:Alison Knowles
108:Angela Bulloch
76:, New Jersey.
28:United Nations
16:Spanish artist
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850:1973 births
844:Categories
795:2010-06-06
755:13 January
726:2021-12-28
702:2021-12-28
620:2010-02-01
564:2022-04-30
481:2021-12-28
457:2021-12-28
364:References
342:Television
278:A Dialogue
266:A Dialogue
191:Chronology
181:Ted Mooney
177:Diario ABC
167:Fiber Arts
97:Lance Fung
20:Gema Alava
670:El Correo
452:0362-4331
99:Gallery.
93:Manifesta
22:(b. 1973
320:Trust Me
229:Clothing
66:La Caixa
49:and the
696:ELMUNDO
403:"About"
292:Find Me
285:Tell Me
153:and at
450:
149:, the
24:Madrid
407:WCPUN
757:2022
448:ISSN
318:For
290:For
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161:Work
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