about the artist

Hector Canonge is a filmmaker and New-media artist who lives and works in NYC where he studied literature, filmmaking and Integrated Media Arts. His most recent projects are“18 Beats,” on view at Discover Queens Visitors Center; “Germinal,” on view at City Without Walls, as part of his work in the Newark New Media Residency Program; and “Deceptive Landscapes,” at Aferro Gallery, as part of his research as a visiting media artist at New Jersey City University, AIR Program. Canonge’s work has been exhibited at the Queens Museum of Art, Bronx Museum of Arts, Jersey City Museum, and at the Paul Robeson Galleries (Rutgers-Newark), Grace Gallery (Brooklyn), Y Gallery (Jackson Heights, NY), Manhattan Culture Center Galley (NYC) and in other museums and galleries throughout the world. Hector has received many awards, including a residency with the Bronx Museum of the Arts AIM 27 Program, a nomination for the Rockefeller Fellowship in New Media Arts, and a residency as an Associate Artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts, Digital Media Program. He has worked with commissions from organizations such as NYSCA, Queens Council on the Arts, Association of Hispanic Arts, LMCC-MCAF, and NOMAA. His work has been reviewed by the NYTimes, ART FORUM, NY Daily News, Queens Tribune, Queens Chronicle, NY Remezcla, and other printed and online publications.

Canonge has been an adjunct instructor of multimedia technologies at New York City College of Technology, CUNY. He has taught at the New School University, Brooklyn Community Access Television, Bronx River Arts Center, and at the Museum of the Moving Image. As part of his community initiatives, he started the monthly LGBT film program CINEMAROSA. He is also the co-founder of QMAD, Queens Media Arts Development, a non-for profit arts organization that serves various communities of Queens with media programs in the arts like FRAMING AIDS, a multidisciplinary event in observance of Worlds AIDS Day.

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Hector Canonge: Schema CorpoReal

June 13 to July 11, 2009
Opening Reception: Sat, June 13, 3-6pm

Viewing hours: Saturdays, 6-9pm
Artist Talk: Sat, July 11, 6-9pm

Schema CorpoReal explores the politics and cultural attitudes about gender and identity. Elements in the exhibition treat the cultural references of the “body image” as well as the manner in which language plays a determining role in the creation of persona and self. For this solo exhibition at TOPAZ ARTS, new-media artist, Hector Canonge, investigates sexuality, identity discourse, and the politics of migration through various technological approaches in his interactive, site-specific, and video installation works. Integrating various means of communication and new technologies to establish connections between human (inter)actions, Canonge creates intriguing tactile installations for audiences to participate and experience.