Experimental-ism - "Of Human Survival Series" Cesar Conde

"Art is Business"www.cesarcondeart.com

Phantom Gallery Chicago Network Presents 

"Of Human Survival Series"  a body of work influenced by Michelle Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow" regarding mass incarceration of black and brown bodies.

July 19th- August 9th, 2019 

Opening 5-6pm VIP Pre-boarding Reception

Open Studio Reception/Trollery Tour - 6-9 pm

 As an artist who deals with social issues, I started using endangered species juxtaposed with black and brown bodies to serve as a bridge to a conversation of difficult issues. Black and brown bodies are also endangered due to unbalanced systemic racism in the justice system. 

 The lively colors of these animals and insects soften the pathway to a difficult conversation, It's a commentary on both racial inequality and climate change and who suffers the consequences of both.

Cesar Conde

www.cesarcondeart.com
nonoconde@gmail.com
773.412.7609
Born: Manila, Philippines, 1963

A product of Filipino diaspora, Conde landed in Chicago’s west side 40 years ago. He then moved to Seattle and where he participated in Seattle’s first school busing integration program. He resettled in the Windy City 28 years ago. Conde is a contemporary painter who deals with relevant social issues. He is an artist and activist who believes that art is a powerful tool for social change. 

He tackles issues across color lines and communities.
As an intersectional artist, Conde believes that we can create empathy and with that, we can affect actions for the good of humanity. He studied at Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. He also studied with the French master, Patrick Betaudier.

Angered by the shooting of Trayvon Martin, Conde created “In The Hood – Portraits of African American Professionals Wearing a Hoodie” in collaboration with his friends and other activists who were his subjects for the series placing professionals in a hoodie altering their reality to our racist societies perspective of black bodies. The main theme is “Perception” vs. “Reality”. African American lawyers, doctors, business owners, pilots, Artists were amongst his collaborators who wore a hoodie to re-examine and co-protest with societies biased against black men and women and the disproportionate amount of killings by the police.

This series won the first “Paul Collins Diversity Award” in ArtPrize 2014. On November 2014, “The Bang Bang Project” was conceptualized during the protest march on Michigan Ave. after the acquittal of Michael Brown’s killer in Ferguson, Missouri. It focuses on “Racism” and “Police Brutality”. Conde found
collaborators to be subjects of this difficult works placing collaborators on the sidewalk as if they were holding on to their last breath, having their dreams deferred. 

The collaborators in the paintings became the activators for the viewers to re-think about our current judicial and policing system. They became the "ACTIVISTS".

Conde’s current series called “AmeriKKKa – Reflection of a Divided Nation” which echoes the racist narrative of the current Trump regime recording epithets thrown at immigrants, POC’s, marginalized groups, and African-Americans during his campaign to his current white house occupancy. Currently,

Conde is working on “Of Human Survival”, a narrative of our survival along with other species as we experience climate change.
Conde has exhibited nationally and internationally most recently at Purdue University, The Field Museum, Chicago, Museo de Arte Moderno in Turin, Italy. He is part of the 17th annual juried exhibition at Freeport Art Museum in Freeport, IL. 

Conde has exhibited in France, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, Taiwan, Germany and in and around the U.S.A.

EDUCATION:
Master Patrick Betaudier
Atelier Neo-Medici
Monflanquin, France
2005 - 2007

Master John Michael Angel
The Angel Academy of Art
Via Nardo di Cioni 10
Florence, Italy
2005

University of Washington
Seattle, WA
BA in Speech Communication
1982 -1987

Universidad de Sevilla
Seville, Spain
Emphasis on Spanish Literature and Language
1984-1985

Universidad de Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Mexico
Emphasis in Latin American Relations and Literature
1983 - 1984

Museum Show

2017 “14 th Regional Exhibition”, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL.
2016 “24” x 24” “, Museo Naturali Di Scienze Naturali, Turin, Italy.
2015-17 “Art and Anthropology – Portrait of an Object as Filipino”, The Field Museum, Chicago,
IL.
2011 “Network: From Turin to Chicago and Vice Versa”, Museo Regionale Di Scienze Naturali,
Turin, Italy.
International Art Fair
2015 Art Taipei, Blue Ryder Art Gallery, Taipei Taiwan.
2014 Miami Art Basel, Spectrum, 33 Contemporary Gallery, Miami, FL.
2013 Miami Art Basel, Spectrum, 33 Contemporary Gallery, Miami, FL.
Solo
2017 “AmeriKKKKa – Reflection of a Divided Nation”, Reuff Galleries, Pao Hall, Purdue
University, Lafayette, IN.
2017 “AmeriKKKa – Reflection of a Divided Nation, Fulton Market Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2016 “Collision”, Lee E. Dulgar Gallery, South Suburban College, Chicago, IL.
2016 “Collision”, The Elephant Room Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2015 “The Bang Bang Project”, Art NXT Level Project-Fine Art Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2015 “Collision”, The University Church, Chicago, IL.
2015 “In The Hood – Portraits of African American Professionals Wearing a Hoodie, Oct 16 – Dec
20, 2015, ACS Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2013 “In The Hood – Portraits of African American Professionals Wearing a Hoodie”, Nov 15 –
Dec 14, 2013, 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2013 “Figures and Faces”, Sep 12 – Nov 4, 2013, Chicago State University, Chicago, IL.
2012 “Celebrating Humanity – A Tea Party”, F*M Gallery, Chicago,IL

International Group
2016 “Tempo Memoria”, MIIT Museo Internazionali Arte Italia, Turin Italy.
2015 “Art Taipei”, Taipei, Taiwan.
2015 “Art and Anthropology”, Erehwon, Quezon City, Philippines.
2015 “Chicago Invasion”, BlueRiderArt Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.
2012 “Synergy”, 33 Contemporary Gallery Artists, ARTSPACE 191, Vienna, Austria.
Group
2018 “To Be Heard National Fine Art Exhibition”, Old Courthouse Arts Center, Woodstock,
IL. The USA.
2018 “Art For Life”, The Golden Triangle, Chicago, IL.
2017 “Connection”, Phantom Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2017 “2 nd Annual Portrait Show”, CC’s Art Garage, Chicago, IL.
2017 “Impolite-ic Politics: Let’s Get Civilly Disobedient”, Lesley University College of Arts
and Design, Cambridge, MA.
2016 – 2017 “Inspired By Social Issues”, Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2016 “Faces Not Forgotten”, Genesis Art Exhibition Space, Chicago, IL.
2016 “Freak Out”, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2016 “Cultural Bridge Art Exhibition”, Scharpenberg Gallery, Dank Haus, Chicago, IL.
2015 “I American”, Dordt College, Sioux City, Iowa.
2015 “Art and Anthropology”, Field Museum, Chicago, IL.
2015 “Art and Anthropology”, Erehwon, Quezon City, Philippines.
2015 “Centerline”, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2015 “ArtPrize”, Grand Rapids, MI.
2015 “Chicago Invasion”, BlueRiderArt Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.
2015 “Good Dog, Better Art”, Sidetracked Studio, Evanston, IL.
2015 “Remnants”, Open Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2014 “ Blue November”, Nych Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2014 “I American”, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2014 “Borderlines”, 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago
2014 ArtPrize – Grand Rapids Michigan.
2014 “7 Deadly Sins”, Hermann & Audrey Gallery, Lacuna Artists Lofts, Chicago, IL.
2014 “I AM American”, White Ripple Gallery, Hammond, IN.
2013 “From Motion To Stillness”, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago IL.
2013 “33 Contemporary Exhibition”, JCC Art Gallery, Julliet Junior College, Julliet, IL
2012 Juried “Sacred Spaces”, The Art Center, Highland Park, IL.
2012 “Bustes and Rose”, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2012 “Art for Haiti”, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2012 “F*CK EM/Forgive ME”, F*M Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2011 “Impetus”, 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2010 “The Filipino as an Artist in Chicago”, Philippine Consulate of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
2010 “Centerline”, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2009 Juried “5th Annual National Self-Portrait Exhibition”, 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2005 “Beyond The Barrelmen”, Acme Art Works, Chicago, IL (Juried)
2004 “Works On Paper”, Prairie State College, Chicago, IL (Juried)
2004 “FCPA 2ndAnnual Members Art Exhibition. Joliet, IL.
2004 “No Straight Lines”, High-Risk Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2004 “Best in Show”, Urban Studio, Chicago, IL.
2003 “Chicago”, La Galeria Samuel Menace, Zona Rosa, Mexico City, Mexico. Juried show.
2003 “The Elements”, High-Risk Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2003 “CHOP”, A Collective Benefit Show. The Hothouse. Chicago, IL.

RESIDENCIES
Lacuna Artists Lofts with Hebru Brantley, Chicago, IL, 2014
Monastir, Tunisia, 2008

Awards
ArtPrize 2014, Paul Collins Diversity Award, Grand Rapids, MI.
“Best in Show”, La Galeria Samuel Menache, Mexico City, Mexico. 2003.
Certificate of Appreciations for contribution to the Chicago Art Scene. Presented by Mayor
Richard Daley. May 28, 2002.

PUBLICATIONS:
Poets and Artists, May 2015
Poets and Artists, Feb 2013
Poets and Artists, Oct 2011