Steven Vasquez Lopez - Bio
Steven Vasquez Lopez was born in Upland, California and currently lives in San Francisco. Raised in Southern California in a Mexican-American household, Lopez's early obsession with architecture, manual labor and bold fashion continues through his hard-edge graphic acrylic painting and ink drawings.
Recent works on paper push the boundaries and definition of the "modern quilt" by technically and conceptually demonstrating how the process of immigration "redesigns traditions”, the battle of technology vs. hand-made in a modern world and the role of gender within the tradition of quilting. Each “thread” is hand drawn in ink one at time. These are not a digital print. No pencil or computers are used to produce this work. His work on paper celebrate the personal histories documented in hand-crafted traditions.
Lopez received his BA in Studio Art from UC Santa Barbara in 2000. He was a recipient of the William Dole Memorial Scholarship (1999, 2000), Abrams Prize (2000), Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship (2006), ArtSlant Prize (2012). Since completing his MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2007, Lopez has exhibited at CES Contemporary, Aqua Art Miami, ArtsPadSF, the San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, Riverside Art Museum, Diego Rivera Gallery, Parklife Gallery, Roll Up Gallery & Root Division Gallery.
Education
2007 MFA, Painting, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA 2001 BA, Art Studio, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
Solo Exhibitions
2015 Imperfect Continuum, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 Accidental Moments, CES Contemporary, Los Angels, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2016 Summer Group Show, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA Mistaken Impressions, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2014 Burst, CES Contemporary, Los Angels, CA Play, C.O.A. Galerie, Montreal, Qc
2013 Introductions 2013, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Confluence, FIFTY24SF, San Francisco, CA
Future Tense, CES Contemporary, Laguna Beach, CA
Selections 2013, ArtSpan, ArtPadSF, San Francisco, CA
Pink & Dangerous, CES Contemporary, ArtPadSF, San Francisco, CA
2012 Fringe Frontier, Aqua Art Miami, Miami, FL 1001 Artists Project, SCOPE Art Show, Miami, FL X Libris, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2011 Staff Infection, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA Idealization of Shapes, Roll up Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Unnatural Plans, Parklife Gallery, San Francisco, CA Graphic Nature, Soap Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Golden State of Mine, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA OverPattern, Propeller Modern, San Francisco, CA
Drips, Stripes and Hard-Edges, Augie’s, Redlands, CA home, Deborah Martin & Phyllis Stein Art, Los Angeles, CA LA ArtWalk (May, August), The Annex LA, Los Angeles, CA Threads, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
2008 Aqua Art Miami, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, Miami, FL New Art 08, Hotel Des Arts, San Francisco, CA
Big Deal 15, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
New Visions 2008, ProArts Gallery, Oakland, CA METApop, ARTworksSF, San Francisco, CA
2007 SFAI MFA Graduate Exhibition, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
2006 Continuing MFA Show, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Impressive Nature, 1015 Folsom, San Francisco, CA
Immediate Future: The 2006 Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship in the Arts,
San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000 U4, Perch Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
Honor’s Exhibition: Getting into Boxes, Bottles and Trouble, Gallery 1434, Santa Barbara, CA
Undergraduate Show 2000, Gallery 1434, Santa Barbara, CA 1999 Undergraduate Show 1999, Gallery 1434, Santa Barbara, CA
Drawing to a close, Gallery 1434, Santa Barbara, CA Monkey Faction, Gallery 1434, Santa Barbara, CA
Awards
2013 Selections 2013, ArtSpan
2012 ArtSlant Prize Winner, ArtSlant.com
2006 Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship of the Fine Arts, San Francisco Arts Commision 2000 Art Studio Honors Program, University of California, Santa Barbara
2000 Abram Prize, University of California, Santa Barbara
2000, 1999 William Dole Memorial Scholarship, University of California, Santa Barbara