Jesse Amado American, b. 1951

Known for art that is conceptually based and highly formal, Jesse Amado’s practice occupies the minimal space that hovers between life and art. His work is imbued by the symbolic power of image-making and its formal or stylistic potentialities. One of his recurring themes centers on a precise choice of materials that allow him to transform those into something entirely different, and always with the purpose of conveying the human experience. His work is grounded in his Mexican American heritage, South Texas aesthetics and  conceptual practices that are anchored in social realities, history and politics.

“When I settle into the practice of art, past, and current, the one conceit that persistently unfolds is the desire to investigate the arc of the transmutation. This reflects my keen interest in the zeitgeist and the inherent dynamic qualities it possesses that address the trends and thoughts of particular periods of time. My work endorses the quality of change and how limitless and liberating it can be for an artist. It resists the formulaic and instead embraces the free association and process that reflects the Freudian play of the creative act. Utilizing forms, images, materials, fashions, and media of human industries; I’m able to produce commentaries on the ambiguities of modern and contemporary culture and the investments that are ultimately made by society.” 

Jesse Amado received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, Austin and an MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. In 1995, he was selected by Robert Storr as the first recipient of the newly created international residency program Artpace San Antonio, along with Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Annette Messager. Amado received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to attend Artist-in-Residence, Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA and he was awarded the International Artist-in-Residence Program of Gwangju, South Korea,

His work can be found in various public collections throughout Texas and the United States, including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington D.C.; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Dallas Museum of Art, TX; The Blanton Museum, Austin, TX; San Antonio Museum of Art, TX; Ruby City, San Antonio, TX; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX and El Museo Del Barrio, New York, NY.

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