Esperanza Cortés is a Colombian born multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. Cortés’ passion for the mosaic of the Americas, its folk art traditions, rituals, music, dance and their ever evolving changes are at the core of her sculptures, paintings, installations, site-specific projects and interventions. Her artwork examines the extent to which a consciousness—national or personal—defines itself through the opposing force of transcultural experiences. The work is poetically and intricately crafted to encourage the viewer to reconsider social and historical narratives, especially when dealing with Colonialism, and raises critical questions about the politics of erasure and exclusion.
As a former Afro-Latin dancer, her work seeks to underscore and use sacred space, the patterns of dance, music and fragments of histories as departure points to investigate and build the structure and space of the installations.
Cortés has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in venues including Smack Mellon Gallery, Bronx Museum of Art, Queens Museum, El Museo del Barrio, MoMA PS1 and Socrates Sculpture Park in NYC. National exhibitions include Albright-Knox Gallery, Ogden Contemporary Arts, Turchin Center for The Visual Arts, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Art Museum. She has been part of international exhibitions in Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Japan, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Spain and Greece.
Cortés’ awards include: New York State Council on the Arts Project Grant, Shortlist 2022 Creative Capital, John Simon Guggenheim, Hispanic Society Museum and Library Artist Research Fellowship, BRIC Media Arts Fellowship, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Grant, Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, Puffin Foundation Grant, New York State Biennial, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts and the Sustained Achievement in the Visual Arts Award.
Cortés’ residencies include: Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Art and Agriculture, Ucross, Peter’s Valley School of Craft, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, McColl Center for Arts + Innovation, Museum of Arts and Design, BRIC Workspace, Joan Mitchell Center, Webb School of Knoxville, Sculpture Space, Fountainhead Residency, Bronx Museum - AIM Program, MoMA PS1 Residency, Socrates Sculpture Park, Abrons Art Center, Longwood Art Project, Altos de Chavon, Can Serrat and Bielska BWA Gallery.
Cortés’ work has been reviewed by Artforum, Artnews, Artnet, Hyperallergic, ARTFUSE, Cultbytes, New York Times, BELatina, Whitehot, New Art Examiner and Art in America. International reviews include multiple media platforms in Europe, South America and the Caribbean.
Cortés has designed programs as a museum educator, artist in residence, and community artist creating legacy projects, murals, sculptures, site-specific installations and Afro-Latin Dance, working with children, teens, elders, homeless and refugee communities, through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Artist Space, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn’s Children's Museum, El Museo del Barrio, Wave Hill, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of Art, and the Museum of Art and Design.
Cortés’ work is in private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the American Embassy in Monterey, Mexico.
CORAZÓNCITO
2022, ceramic sculpture, crystal beads, vintage crystals,
personal embroidery, encaustic on wood, 15” x 15” x 2.5”
EL ÁBOL DE LA VIDA
2023, ceramic sculpture, crystal beads, glass beads, personal embroidery, encaustic on wood, 31.5” x 23.5” x 2.5”