• Artworks
    • Miguel Arzabe Indigo, 2013 Oil on canvas 54 x 37 1/2 in. 137.2 x 95.3 cm.
      Miguel Arzabe
      Indigo, 2013
      Oil on canvas
      54 x 37 1/2 in.
      137.2 x 95.3 cm.
    • Miguel Arzabe Purple, 2012 Acrylic on canvas 61 x 48 in. 154.9 x 121.9 cm.
      Miguel Arzabe
      Purple, 2012
      Acrylic on canvas
      61 x 48 in.
      154.9 x 121.9 cm.
    • Miguel Arzabe Bolivia, 2015 Acrylic on panel 48 x 36 in. 121.9 x 91.4 cm.
      Miguel Arzabe
      Bolivia, 2015
      Acrylic on panel
      48 x 36 in.
      121.9 x 91.4 cm.
    • Miguel Arzabe Burnt Sienna, 2013 Oil on canvas 36 x 24 in. 91.4 x 61 cm.
      Miguel Arzabe
      Burnt Sienna, 2013
      Oil on canvas
      36 x 24 in.
      91.4 x 61 cm.
    • Green Smear

       

  • Biography

    Miguel Arzabe makes vibrant abstract paintings in oil and acrylic. They take visual cues from indigenous weavings of the Americas and modernist painting. His process proceeds through actions borrowed from the history of abstract expressionism - paint is poured, smeared, pressed, pooled, pulled, sprayed, wiped, brushed. There is a tension between control and chance mark making. Crisscrossing swaths of parallel strips are applied to the support during the process of building up layers, masking certain areas and echoing the form of the weave. 

    In tandem with painting, Arzabe works across other media, such as video and paper weaving. Ideas migrate and overlap freely between the subjective realm of painting and other conceptual modes of making. The work as a whole addresses issues of agency, progress, how value is created, and existential conundrums. "Arzabe draws all these and more allusive threads together into a raggedy but visually arresting fabric." - Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle 

  • CV

    Lives and works in San Francisco, CA 

    EDUCATION 

    MFA, University of California, Berkeley, CA 
    MS, Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 
    BS, Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA  

    SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 

    2023
    Animales Familiares, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
    2021
    Tejido Cultural, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles
    Cóndor de Cuatro Cabezas, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
    2017
    Weavings, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA
    Videos, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
    2016
    Cultural Fabric, DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA 
    I Can’t Make It by Myself, Recology, San Francisco, CA 
    2015
    Las Cosas que Pintan / Painting in an Expansive Field, Verge Gallery, Sacramento, CA 
    2014
    /*Reject Algorithms*/, Cult Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA 
    Sightlines, StoreFrontLab, San Francisco, CA 
    2013
    El otoño mío es tu primavera, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM 
    2011
    falling in, curated by Bruno Mauro, Ampersand International Arts, San Francisco, CA  

    SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 

    2023
    Future Fair, Johansson Projects, New York, NY
    Á Pleins Poumons, Fondation Bullukian, Lyon, France
    Cumbi, Tucson Art Museum, Tucson, AZ
    2022
    Follow the String, Marin MOCA, Marin, CA
    Tikkun, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
    Resonance of Place, CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA
    2021
    Festival Sillon / Itinéraire Art Drôme, Annecy, France
    Community Garden, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
    After the Fire, Round Weather, Berkeley, CA
    Once Removed, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
    2020
    Geumgang Nature Art Biennale, Gongiu, South Korea
    Works on Water Triennial, Governor’s Island, NY
    In This Light, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
    Bay Area Visual Artist Exhibition Production Relief Grant, Ever Gold[Projects], San Francisco, CA 2019
    Resonance: Lyon Biennal, Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon, France
    de.Payser, L’arteppes/Mikado, Annecy, France
    Teatro dei Fauni, Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland
    Nocturnes, Images Passages, Annecy, France
    BelVedere, MARS, Milan, Italy
    Special Projects, Untitled Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
    Deviate/Landscape, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
    Trove, San Marco Gallery, Dominican University, San Rafael, CA
    2018
    Recontres Internationales, Paris/Berlin Billboard Creative, Los Angeles, CA
    2017
    Mystery Theater Sports Bar, Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK
    VIGOROUS, Minimicro Cinema, Cincinnati, OH
    2016
    Perhaps We Could Chat Trough a Few Specifics, FIFI Projects, Mexico City, Mexico 
    Open Studio of Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Mexico City, Mexico 
    I Never Learned the Title of the Song I Always Sing, Minnesota St Projects, San Francisco, CA
    2015
    Artist-Run, The Satellite Show, North Beach, Miami, FL 
    Miami Mayhem, Cult Exhibitions Off-site, South Beach, FL 
    Carry On, The Red Tree House, Mexico City, Mexico 
    Caprichos Anatomicos, Works, San Jose, CA 
    Indigo Mind, StoreFront Lab, San Francisco, CA 
    The Possibilities of Paper, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA 
    2014
    Above/Below, curated by Danielle Rante, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 
    Art Market Art Fair, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 
    Fun and Games, Montalvo Art Center, Saratoga, CA 
    2013
    Unseen, Cult Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA 
    Sea Stories Between the Tides, curated by Amir Mortazavi, Highlight Gallery, San Francisco, CA 
    Featured Alumna, curated by Ryan Pierce, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR 
    Thinking Like the Universe, curated by Aimee Friberg, K. Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco, CA and Hatch Gallery, Oakland, CA 
    Out the Window Project, LA Freewaves, Los Angeles, CA 
    Wood Anniversary, curated by Terri Hopkins, Marylhurst University, Portland, OR 
    Conversation Continuum, Martina }{ Johnston, Berkeley, CA 
    2012
    Hors Pistes 2012, curated by Géraldine Gomez, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France 
    I am Crime, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA 
    Random Acts, curated by William Moreno, OCCCA, Orange County, CA 
    Traps, curated by Jared Dyer, Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA 
    Where the Western Wind Blows, curated by Amanda Mayo, Rock Bar, San Francisco, CA 
    Pods, Contraptions & Relics, curated by Brian Karl, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA 
    Open Studios, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM 
    2011
    Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Montréal, Canada 
    Summer Drift, Rm Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand 
    Hors Pistes 2011, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France 
    Darkness and Light, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA 
    Leyendas, 35mm Ciné Café, Cochabamba, Bolivia 
    Walking on Thin Ice, Ampersand International, San Francisco, CA 
    2010
    The More Things Change: Shadow Shop, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA 
    The farther away the better I see you, Painting Salon, San Francisco, CA 
    Fall Open House, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA 
    No Right Angles, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA 
    2009
    Passive/Aggressive, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA 
    Soccer in the Gallery, Worth Ryder Gallery, Berkeley, CA 
    Immediate Future, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA 
    LAND/ART, The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, courtesy of Richard Levy 
    Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 
    John Muir Text Messages, The Great Wall, Oakland, CA 
    Free Time, Worth Ryder Gallery, Berkeley, CA 
    2008
    Naturations, Ego Park Gallery, Oakland, CA 

    RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS 

    2023
    Sam and Adele Golden Foundation
    Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
    2022
    Golden Foundation Artist in Residence Award, New Berlin, NY
    San Francisco Bay Area Artadia Award
    New American Paintings, Pacific Coast Edition
    Millay Arts Residency
    2021
    Public Art Commission: California Natural Resource Agency, Sacramento, CA
    Public Art Commission: Children’s Medical Center, Omaha, NE
    2019
    Public Art Commission: SF COUNTS 2020 Census
    Public Art Commission: CBRE Oakland Headquarters
    Public Art Commission: San Francisco International Airport Hyatt Hotel
    Public Art Commission: Making Waves Academy, Richmond, CA
    2018
    Public Art Commission: San Francisco Arts Commission Poster Series
    Lucid Art Foundation Artist in Residence
    2017
    Facebook Artist in Residence
    2016
    Recology Artist in Residence 
    DeYoung Museum Studio Program 
    2015
    Kala Art Institute Residency 
    Project 387 Artist Residency 
    Bayview Artist Residency 
    2014
    University of Georgia Athens - Foundations Visiting Artist 
    2013
    Montalvo Art Center Irvine Fellowship 
    2012
    Vermont Studio Center Full Fellowship 
    Signal Fire Residency, Oregon 
    Santa Fe Art Institute Residency 
    Philadelphia Art Hotel Residency 
    2011
    Don Blanche Residency, Ontario, Canada 
    2010
    Headlands Center for the Arts Graduate Fellowship 
    Harry Ford Lord Fine Arts Award 
    UC Berkeley CRG Arts Grant 
    2009
    Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship in the Fine Arts 
    2008
    UC Berkeley Graduate Fellowship 
    2006
    Jentel Artist Residency Program, Banner, WY 

    COLLECTIONS 

    deYoung Museum, San Francisco,
    California Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida
    Facebook, Inc.
    YouTube, Inc.
    Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
    University of California San Francisco Hospital
    CBRE, Inc.
    Anne and Paul Wattis
    Robert and Elaine Stein Gallery, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
    Albuquerque Museum of Art and History
    Oakland Museum of California
    San Francisco Arts Commission
    Making Waves Academy, Richmond, CA
    County of Alameda
    kW Engineering, Inc.
    Stranger & Stranger, Inc.
    Various private collections

    PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS 

    2020
    Artist Interviews, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts
    The Racket Journal : Issue 19
    Leaf Litter No. 8, Signal Fire Arts
    2019
    Commissioned artwork printed for Headlands Center for the Arts year-end fund drive mailer 2018
    Dan la baie, artistes cherchent studio désespérément, Olga Yurkina, Le Temps
    Weaving the present fight with past, Ryan Kost, San Francisco Chronicle
    Illustration featured in the Guardian, U.S. Edition
    2016
    Dedicated Space, by Alisa Carroll, photographs by Daniel Dent, San Francisco Cottages and Gardens 
    Leaf Litter #6, Iron Point Press 
    Interviewed on Full Circle, KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley, CA 
    2015
    The Anti-Fair: Artist-Run Miami Beach, review by Cara Ober, BmoreArt.com 
    Artist’s unusual work redefines painting in ‘Las Cosas Que Pintan’, review by Victoria Dalkey, Sacramento Bee 
    2014
    Arzabe at Cult by appointment, but hurry, review by Kenneth Baker, Arts and Not, SFGate.com 
    Two Solo Shows in SF, review by Leora Lutz, WhiteHot Magazine of Contemporary Art 
    Miguel Arzabe /*Reject Algorithms*/, edited by Bonnie Begusch, Carets and Sticks 
    In Conversation: “/*Reject Algorithms*/”, SFAQ online 
    Cult objects, by Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle 
    Experience landscape in a different way, article by Pam Dillon, Dayton Daily News 
    2013
    Interviewed on Art Beat, Talk Radio AM 1260 Santa Fe, NM 
    The Art of Miguel Arzabe, article by Michael Abatemarco, Santa Fe New Mexican 
    Random Acts, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art 
    Cover Image for White Spaces, Black Faces, University of North Carolina Press 
    2011
    Photography published in Canadian art quarterly cmagazine issue 112 
    Falling In, essay by Bonnie Begusch, published by Ampersand International Arts 
    "Thin Ice" at Ampersand, review by Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle 
    Writing included in Pawel Kruk performance document published by Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam NL 
    2009
    Land/Art New Mexico, Radius Books 
    2008
    Post-Apocalypse Now, review by Dewitt Cheng, East Bay Express 
    2006
    I don’t see any cowboys downtown, Albuquerque Alibi 

    Download Arzabe CV