Michael Linares
Residency:
September 12 – 18, 2016

Through a wide variety of media including installation, assemblage, sculpture, video and painting, Michael Linares’ practice consistently raises the possibility of new relations between objects and signification. Mixing the foreign with the familiar and the marvelous with the mundane, Linares disorganizes what is perceived as common sense, in order to create unexpected combinations that foster new aesthetic and intellectual understanding. Central to his practice is the exploration of new connections between audience and art, in a way that asserts the spectator’s role in the production of meaning. Rather than an aesthetic experience in and of itself, the artist sees his work as a vehicle for possible aesthetic experiences that remain open, ever changing, and ready to be redefined.

Recent exhibitions include: Museu do Pau, 32a Bienal de São Paulo: Incerteza Viva , São Paulo, Brazil; El Museo del Palo, Casa del Sargento, Beta-Local, San Juan (2015); The Way of Makapansgat, Galería Agustina Ferreyra, San Juan (2015); An Aleatory History of the Stick, Art in General, New York. Curated by Kristen Chappa (2015); Outside In / Out, Mexico City, MACO Art Fair Solo Project, Curated by Juan Gaitán (2014); Unpainting, Walter Otero Gallery, San Juan PR (2013) and Was it a rat I saw?, Ltd Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (2013).

He is the founder of La Sonora (2010-present), an free online audiotheque, that contains translations of texts relevant to contemporary art discourse and culture, most of which did not previously exist in Spanish. The project aims to democratize aesthetic and critical knowledge, while creating an alternative platform for traditional reading.

Linares is also in the process of obtaining his masters degree in archaeology. He lives and works in San Juan, PR.