Marcela Pardo Ariza selected for the TOSA Studio Award
Now in it’s second year — The Tosa Studio Award recognizes a San Francisco Bay Area artist, offering financial support and a studio space to help establish and further an arts career.
Marcela Pardo Ariza will be in residence at 1240 Minnesota Street Project July 2017 — July 2018.
Pardo was selected from a pool of finalists including; Indira Allegra, Sofía Córdova, Whitney Lynn, and Minoosh Zomorodinia.
The jury for this year’s award consisted of Hesse McGraw, Vice President of Exhibitions and Public Programs, SF Art Institute, artist and arts supporter Lava Thomas; and Tanya Zimbardo, Assistant Curator of Media Arts, SFMOMA.
Marcela Pardo Ariza explores the relationship of representation, queerness and wry (and witty) humor through color sets and prop-like objects. Her photographs incorporate subjects and objects that behave in seemingly absurd or “erroneous” ways. These tableaux explore aspects of visibility, marginalization and “failure” while questioning race and gender stereotypes. Pardo is also interested in exploring the legacy of the medium of photography and analyzing its potential as an object in the digital era.
Marcela Pardo Ariza was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She holds a BA from Earlham College and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her photographic work has been shown at Glasshouse (Brooklyn, NY); SOMArts, Bass & Reiner, Luggage Store Gallery, Guerrero Gallery, Embark Gallery, Root Division (San Francisco, CA). Pardo has curated shows locally at Cranium Corporation (San Francisco, CA); R/SF (San Francisco, CA); and CTRL+SHFT collective (Oakland, CA). Pardo worked as a Curatorial Assistant at the Clocktower Gallery (Manhattan, NY), Co-Founder of Noroof Gallery (San Francisco, CA) and is currently a Program Assistant at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA).
About the TOSA Studio Award
Sponsored by Victoria Belco and William Goodman, the award will annually provide a promising artist a $10,000 stipend and use of a private studio at 1240 Minnesota Street in the Minnesota Street Project studio building for the award period, with access to the Minnesota Street Project facilities and participation in the creative community.