Where can I see her art?
Instagram: @mariana_copello
Website: http://www.marianacopello.com/
Coming soon (Sept 14th) to Miami's Imago in Coral Gables.
Mariana Copello is a Venezuelan visual artist who lives and works in Houston, Texas.
Her Story
"Since I was a child living in the colorful streets of Maracaibo I have always expressed the need to creatively express my thoughts and emotions through poetry, being involved in plays, in classical ballet classes and in piano. I graduated in 1998 from University of Zulia with a degree in Social Communication. I aimed my professional practice towards the arts. I worked in the Public Relations department of MACZUL, Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia. Then I had the opportunity to create an art and creativity school for children. I believe it is important to get children educated in art at a young age. The art classes were in English and we would do different activities like theater, cooking, use different materials, expositions and visits. I believe in this phrase: to be educated in art is to be educated for life.”
"Years later, my husband was assigned to work in Australia (then Angola and then Houston). It got me thinking about my upcoming expat life. I wanted to work on something that I could move along with us." A 'nomad format', Mariana says. "So I took jewelry classes." Mariana says the tactile, hands-on, and different materials caught her interest. "I would incorporate stones and things found in artisanal markets from the different countries as a way to get closer to the culture of the place I was at. And I had my little home studio".
"In 2011, we moved to Houston. It was actually my husband that pushed me to make a career in art so I started my degree at the Glassell School of Art. After my first two years, I had a class where we were making models and I liked it, so I took an elective in sculpture in wood and it changed my world. After graduating in Sculpture, I was selected with 15 other artists to do the residency program at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston between 2018 and 2019. Professors and other artists would come weekly to provide feedback on our work. It was a time of incredible growth. They selected me with 50 other artists to be part of the Latin American experience gala of that year and it felt like a validation of my work."
"From there on, little by little, my practice has been enriched by new knowledge, collaborations with other artists and professionals, teamwork, creating an artistic community of dialogue and cooperation." Mariana explains, "big formats require teamwork. I opened my company Copello Fine Art. Among others, my team includes an architect for construction plans and support with presenting within a certain space, and an engineer to support with the structural aspects and calculations."
"Developing my career in the city of Houston in recent years has allowed me to learn and live with two experiences that have a great impact on my practice: diversity and sense of community. It is in this sense of community where I find myself lucky to give back by continuing to be present and active in the city's art scene; talks, auctions, purposeful donations, activities and exhibitions in museums, institutions and cultural spaces and having the opportunity to leave my mark with works in public spaces, as I once experienced in my country, continuing with that desire to highlight the sense of belonging to who we are, where we are and where we are going."
Her Work
"My work in the visual arts is based on simple geometry. I have been exploring space with the use of lines, voids, orientation and placement. I look for connection with movement, rhythmic dynamism and multiple perceptions. I am in a constant search for beauty, harmony, and simplicity of forms. I am interested in pure, beautiful art, full of subjectivity, where through an abstract language and a minimum amount of elements in the composition so many things can be communicated."
The Intangible Space exhibition is Mariana Copello's most recent individual exhibition (2023) at the Sonja Roesch Gallery with Rafael Santana as the museographer.
“Intangible Space is something you cannot touch, but feel. You have all the physical aspects of the art work, but you also have something that is present but is intangible that connects you to the work of art. Which awakens in you emotionality. The Intangible Space is a reflection of what we have lived, our experiences, roots, influences and what we have nurtured. Where experience, memory, subjectivity, and emotion reside. It is that intangible component that each work has where my research lies. As a communicator I have realized that the viewer, as much as the artwork, also wants the experience, to take away a memory. That is why for me, more important than the physical work, I have tried to develop a concept, an investigation, an experience and give a didactic component to my work through my words, my writings and my testimonies."
Mariana also mentions that "when a Venezuelan takes a look at her work, there is something intangible there. It awakens a different feeling." She speaks of public art, modernist architecture, masters of art, geometric abstraction and kineticism as part of the Venezuelan essence. "Venezuela is a country where art was experienced from the streets. Every time I visited the city of Caracas, art was everywhere. Big works of art in the streets. There is an exposure to art as a child. For example, in the Maiquetia airport, without us understanding as children, we were inside a work of art where an intangible space of emotions was and is still present, of welcomes and goodbyes."
Where do you find inspiration?
"Observing our surroundings and being open. Inspiration might be something that someone said, a product of an experience we have lived, being moved by a song, listening to someone's talk, and going to art fairs and seeing other artists works with different materials."
"I work most of the time alone in my studio. I love solitude, quiet, moments of thought, reflection, intimate and personal connection with the work. I actually have all my art works exhibited in my studio. I like to work surrounded by my work. I sometimes find a dialogue between existing works. I also write during my process. And photograph things that move me. The other day I did a study of lines and shadows of a construction site."
"You have to be committed to your work, understand that things do not have only one moment and that everything flows. You have to have a lot of patience and keep your artistic identity. As well as be consequent with the people that have supported you so you continue growing. I like the adrenaline rush of doing new things and thinking how to materialize ideas. There is always that fear of the unknown that I love to feel."
What are you working on now?
"I am currently working on getting an exhibition together for Miami which will open September 14th through January 2025 at Imago in Coral Gables. The curator is Katherine Chacon. It will have an overview of my last individual exhibition Intangible Space along with some new works that relate to this same concept. I am very happy for this opportunity. I am planning on attending Art Basel and it is great to have physical work displayed in the city at that same time. It feels like a full circle moment for me, as Imago is a place that works with children and these children will get to see my work displayed."
"Last year (2023), I participated in an art contest for Venezuelan women artists called UNA = TODAS Contemporary Venezuelan Women Artists. My work was selected to be displayed at the National Art Gallery in Caracas. The expo was divided in segments with different styles highlighting the work of women artists. It ended this past January but it looks like there might be a second call. It is a goal of mine to find ways to be present in my country."
"The beautiful thing is that there is no arrival at the finish line on this path. It is a continuous and infinite journey."
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