PILITA GARCIA ESQUIVEL Artist / Artist Assistant / Art Consultant / Collaborator
CURRICULUM VITAE
Education
B.F.A. Mention Painting. The School of Visual Arts, New York, New York; 1996
Exhibitions
2024 “Vitamina A” curated by Maria José Sagredo. Galería Animal, Santiago de Chile
2023 “Somos/We are: Latinx Artists from Long Island” curated by Nina Sangimino & Kelynn Alder. The Long Island Museum; New York, NY
2018 “Tunes of Hope” benefit curated by Isabel Aranguren. South Pointe Park Lighthouse; Miami, Florida
2014 “Rowan Sphere” Solo Show curated by Todd Stewart with text by Juan Fontanive. Picture Farm Gallery, Williamsburg, New York
2012 “Vista: Contemporary Works by Latin American Artists” curated by Eva Mendoza Chandas. University of Maryland, Washington, DC
2011 “Have you seen this guy’s work?” curated by Ryan Feeney. Soft Spot, On-line Gallery
2011 ”Nostalgia” curated by Lupe Gehrenbeck. One Art Space, New York, New York
2010 “Artist of the Week” curated by Alejandra Villasmil. Artishock Magazine, On-line Gallery
2010 “Ellas ArtReach” Video-Series curated by Poppy Muir. Night of Festivals, Nottingham, UK
2010 “Greeny” curated by Alexander Berscheid. Astor Row Unlimited Gallery, Buschwick, New York
2009 ”Home” Feria de Arte BA. Galeria Trafix, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2008 ”Advance Yogi” curated by Mr Trafix. Florencia Lowenthal Gallery, Santiago, Chile
2008 “All Cut Up” curated by Rita de Alencar Pinto. Roebling Hall Gallery, New York, New York
2008 “Reflect/Refract” curated by Lucia Pizzani. Rich Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2007 “Slideluck Pot Show” curated by Valeria Cordero. Museo Acarigua-Araure, Venezuela
2006 “Pinta” curated by Andreina Fuentes. HC Contemporary, New York, New York
2006 “Balance, Fuera de Balance” curated by Barrios. Jóvenes con FIA, Caracas, Venezuela
2005 “The Secret Show” curated by Valeria Cordero. The White Box Gallery, New York, New York
2005 “One of a kind” Dumbo Arts Festival. P-LOFT Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2005 “Victims of Katrina” Benefit Exhibition. The Halcycon Gallery, Dumbo, New York
2005 “Venezueland” curated by Alejandra Villasmil. Galeria Galou, Brooklyn, New York
2005 “The First Art Parade” curated by Kathy Grayson. Deitch Projects, New York, New York
2004 “L Factor” curated by Jeanette Ingberman and Papo Colo. Exit Art, New York, New York
2003 “Animas Night Out” curated by Mariano Franzese. The Frying Pan, New York, New York
2003 “Ephemeral Trends” curated by Milagros Bello. Feria Arte Americas, Miami, Florida
2003 “Night of the 1000 Drawings” a Benefit for The Artist Space. Artists Space, New York, New York
Private Collections ( Selection )
Derek Fordjour; Steven & Alessandra Rich; Abigail & Jessica Asher; Clara Van den Bosch; Rimjhim Dey; David & Barbara Slater; Patrick & Rebeca Craig; David Tunkl; Margarita Hanckes & Carlos Jerez; Fabienne & Carlitos Jerez; Elizabeth Mitchell; Dan Bailey; Rebecca Smeyne; Alex & Jennifer Gillette; Michael & Laura Doak; Cristóbal Infante; Geraldine Garcia Esquivel; Diego Sanchez & Ana Lasala; Antonio Briceño; Valentina Meersohn; Valentina Greene; Maria Laura Quintero; Oscar Carvallo; Valeria Cordero; Cecil Chellew Bulnes; Todd & Marina Stewart; Jamie Gili & Lucia Pizzani; Amira Esquivel; Carla Harshman; Lorenzo Marcelli Fiori & Agathe Lerolle; Jaime Mendoza; Mariuschka Lovera; Richard Melillo; Stefan Sagmeister; Bianca Alvarez; Katz & Antonio Parada; David Genat; Robert Richardson; Veronica Menache; Ben Callaway; Jonathan Sanchez-Obias; John McWhinnie.
Artist Assistant & Collaborations (selection), New York Bios powered by Chat GPT ;)
Roberto Ruspoli is an Italian muralist, who works in large scale, in-situ, using charcoal and pigments. I worked assisting with the general production of his large-scale mural, mixing colors, painting and prepping, Private Residence, West Village, NY. December 2023
Derek Fordjour is an American interdisciplinary artist and educator of Ghanaian heritage, who works in collage, video/film, installation, sculpture and painting. I assisted Derek with the exponential production of his art-work to meet various deadlines, including with creative solutions like silver gilding and doing the paint finish on his sculptures. I was also part of the team assisting with the general production of his large-scale paintings: faster-than-light color mixing and matching, actual figurative miniature painting, all related to prepping and collaging the paintings for his show SCORE, at Petzel Gallery, NY. April-November 2023
Alan Carrol is a Scott expert artisan, who works in New York creating faux finishes for over two decades. Under his guidance, I worked for Michael Simon and Evergreene Architects, helping in two projects in Manhattan: Upper East side residence mixing the colors for many of the rooms there, doing traditional strié samples in varying subtle shades. Mixed and matched gallons of his custom recipe, which incorporated Blanc de Meudon marble dust, replicating the dead-flat patina of the Palais Paar period room at the Met. Among other things, I also prepared two dozen doors and panels for faux wood grain including mixing the new wood stain shade fro the entire residence, and rendering oil life-size samples in front of clients. In Harlem: restoring, doing in-painting for the damaged murals at the very top of the ceiling inside the Church of The Ascension.
Ryan McGinness is an American multimedia artist from Virginia Beach, known for his colorful, silk-screen paintings of geometric abstractions and use of symbols, exploring the intersection of art and commerce. I was his Studio Manager a few years ago, and more recently, his silkscreening assistant, helping with the general production of large-scale paintings, mixing specific acrylic colors, helping Ryan with all related to oversized silk-screening, varnishing, packing and shipping. 2022 & 2006 - 2007
Ian Vanek is a musician and visual artist from Olympia, best known as the co-founder of the punk band Japanther, which combines music, performance art and multimedia to create a unique DIY aesthetic. We collaborated a-painting-for-a-song, he used my portrait for his Howardian record titled “Too Big To Be Quiet” as well as for a drum-key design. 2022
Theo Pinto is an American mixed media artist of Brazilian heritage whose work combines paint and resin, and explores themes of light and nature with gradients. I worked as a color consultant/specialist, and mixed to match hundreds of oil-paint colors for his gradient paintings, to be finished with a top resin layer. 2021
Laura Owens is an American Artist based in Los Angeles, known for her eclectic and experimental approach to abstraction, combining traditional painting techniques with digital technology. I worked for her as a dry-lay assistant via LGA Partners, The Public Art Fund and BRB Tiles, organizing, re-arranging gradients, photographing, cutting-to-size and dry-laying the non-white area of a twenty-eight thousand square-foot tile-mosaic mural (the largest in the world). LaGuardia Airport, New York. 2019 - 2020
Jeff Koons is an American conceptual artist, known for his controversial and playful sculptures, often inspired by popular culture and consumerism, which have made him one of the most recognizable figures in the art world. I was part of his Painting Department, working with a small team of color experts to match computer generated swatches, and as a Color Specialist and Stencil Painter, I mixed to match thousands of costume oil-paint colors, around five thousand seven hundred and fifty, for the complete Gazing Ball series for the artist's solo show at Gagosian Gallery, NY. I also worked on the underpainting aspect of the work by dovetailing several hundred layers of perforated velum-stencils, and stippling the oil paint directly from the oil tube onto the canvas. I was part of the team brought over Rockefeller Center in order to custom-color spot-restore “Seated Ballerina” a ballon piece based on a previous stainless-steel sculpture he made.
Karin Schneider is a conceptual artist from Brazil, known for her minimalist compositions. I was her painting assistant along with Ian Szydlowski; lettering a large format painting titled She Is Difficult, in-painting black capital letters on a black background. I also helped her restore several of her smaller monochrome paintings, including Syria. 2015.
Taylor McKimmens is an artist from California, known for his fluorescent and gritty, narrative-driven paintings and sculptures that explore American culture. I was his painting assistant and mixed color in the floor-to-ceiling backdrop mural for the main stage. Death by Audio’s last show in Williamsburg. 2014
Jaime Gili is a Venezuelan painter based in London, known for his vibrant and colorful abstract compositions, which reflect his interest in Latin American culture and history with strong reference to Carlos Cruz-Diez. I worked helping him with the installation of his solo show in New York. 2006
E. V. Day is a New York based artist whose work explores themes of sexuality and humor while employing gravity-defying suspension techniques. I did and Internship for her helped her with sowing and hanging her sculpture dresses for studio-tests, maybe for a MET exhibit. 2012
Nick Kuzyck. is a street artist and painter from Raleigh, whose tag is R-Robots, I was his Painting Assistant: Rendering Acrylic Miniatures for R.Robot. 2012
Lucia Pizzani is a Venezuelan Artist based in London, who has an expressive and mixed media approach to art making, involving the body, working with performance, photography, video and sculpture; with whom I did collaborations, including “el Librito”. 2010
Cai Guo-Qiang is a Chinese artist known for his firework display at the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. He turns the sky into a canvas, and paints with colored gunpowder and reflect his interest in Chinese culture and mythology. I worked as his videographer: using a hand-held camcorder, I did the non-stop recording of the installation of each work at the artists’ Retrospective. Guggenheim Museum. 2008
Vito Acconci was a pioneering Italian-American performance artist whose work explored the relationship between the body and public spaces, influencing subsequent generations of artists. I got to work directly with Vito as an intern, archiving, organizing, and tending the originals kept in folders, each folder labeled with the title of a work of art and organized inside his metal cabinets: Like a giant poem containing material corresponding to his 1969-1974 work, which was to be acquired by the Getty Museum. 2006-2007
Suprina Keeney is an American Sculptor, I learned from her craft by assisting in the field of promotional props and prop making. Her clients included Annie Leibovitz, Apple Computer, Bloomingdales, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I made props for her and her team for Bloomingdales Christmas Windows on two consecutive years including a nine-foot-tall Christmas tree sculpted in chicken wire and covered with real candy, designed all the ornaments and presents. For a different year, I helped sculpt all the characters for the Christmas windows and color-painted them so that they would be covered in rhinestone, sponsored by Swarovski. 1999-2001
Martin Zimmerman is a New Zealander expert in faux finishes and antique restoration. I learned his craft and became an Oil Gilder & Faux Finisher, decorated poles and finials with filigrees in 24k gold paint for high-end clients including Harold Prince; did faux finishing on-site and at the studio, marble and wood restoration for furniture coming from The Louvre, I was his drafts-person for any and all incoming pieces. 1998-2000
Peter Lazic is a Yugoslavian artist known for his sculptural creations of classical and contemporary art, and his commitment to promoting cultural exchange through events. I was a large-scale Clay and Plasticine Sculptor for him, rendering works for Jose Alvarez and others. Also making rubber and fiberglass molds and doing resin casting. 1998-1999
Other Projects
Asylum Seeker Interpreter. Spanish / English translator: In-person Interview with asylum seekers from Latin America at the US Immigration Offices. NJ. Conducted under oath, for two hours, in front of a US Immigration Officer. Had a successful outcome in 50% of the cases. Immigration Offices. 2020-2021
Kids Art-Class Project.@pilitaartclass. Created a small art class for Children ages 4-9, including Free Art-Fridays at The Williamsburg Library for underserved communities, making collage, and watercolors from life. 2017-2018
Documentarian Volunteer. Photographing and volunteering in general for Author Elizabeth (Biz) Mitchell in various events, and specifically for the project “Downtown for Democracy”, a non-for profit at the time, to get people to vote for Jon Ossof. 2018. Biz Mitchell is an American collector and author, known for her passion for American Culture, in her book Liberty’s Torch she re-wrote the story behind The Statue of Liberty- 2018
Art Consultant. Connected the printing enterprise of Ben Tritt’s ARTMATR with the painting'/3D enterprise of Jeff Koons’ : work on Robotics/ business development. 2021.