Noe Olivas
noé olivas is a Southern California-based artist. His work is a meditation on what he calls the poetics of labor, a deep reflection on presents, movements, and heart of the working-class community. He seeks to confront the invisibility of labor by engaging it with people from the community through collaboration, discussion, intervention, celebration, and healing.
He often uses his family’s personal archive and other found domestic or utilitarian objects and materials. He constructs sculptures, drawings, paintings, and prints that create a connecting point of familiarity through labor. These gestures are additionally explored in his performance practice where he takes into consideration how labor is performed in the everyday, utilizing it as a moment to engage audiences in exchanges of vulnerability.
olivas is an artist-gallerist-organizer and co-founder of the Crenshaw Dairy Mart and inaugural professor for the Social and Environmental Arts Practice MFA at Prescott College, where he teaches a course on art and healing. olivas received a MFA from the University of Southern California in 2019, and a BA in Visual Arts from the University of San Diego in 2013. He lives and works in South Central, Los Angeles, CA.
Education:
2019 Master of Fine Arts in Art – University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2013 Bachelor of Arts in Visual Art (with exceptional honors, Art History and Architecture minor) – University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
Solo Exhibitions:
2020 Voz Alta: Time & Space, Best Practice (San Diego, CA)
2019 Alumni Exhibition: noé olivas, Sacred Heart Gallery, University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
2019 Que sue.es con los angelitos, Ed and Gayle Roski Master of Fine Arts Gallery, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2015 Low&Slow, Untitled Space at The New Children’s Museum (San Diego, CA)
2013 Poetics of Labor, Untitled Space at University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
Group Exhibitions:
2020 Theft and Found, MiM Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
2020 Magnetic Currents: Representations charged by the U.S. and Mexico Border, California State University Channel Islands (Ventura County, CA)
2019 Open Space, BackSpace Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
2019 Calafia: Manifesting the Terrestrial Paradise, Armory Center of the Arts (Pasadena, CA)
2019 With a Little Help From My Friends, Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
2019 Shifting aesthetics: A Selection of Works by 11 L.A. Artists, Millard Sheets Art Center
(Pomona, CA)
2019 TELL ME A STORY AND I’LL SING YOU A SONG, Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
2019 HOMEBASE, Residency Art Gallery (Inglewood, CA)
2019 DEEP WATERS, Residency Art Gallery (Inglewood, CA)
2018 CALAFIA: Manifesting the Terrestrial Paradise, MexiCali Biennial, The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (San Bernardino, CA)
2018 In Plain Sight, La Jolla Historical Society (La Jolla, CA)
2017 Whiskers, Ed and Gayle Roski Master of Fine Arts Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
2017 AnthroMorphoCene, Bread and Salt (San Diego, CA)
2016 Spring Fest Festival, Untitled Space at Bread and Salt (San Diego, CA)
2014 I Scream for Ice-Cream, Untitled Space at The New Children’s Museum (San Diego, CA)
2014 TRANSANNUAL, Untitled Space at Adams Ave. (San Diego, CA)
2013 The Gift Shop II, Untitled Space at San Diego Art Museum (San Diego, CA)
2013 The Gift Shop, Untitled Space at Helmuth Project (San Diego, CA)
2013 Athenaeum Annual Juried Show, Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (La Jolla, CA)
2013 SD Annual Student Exhibition, University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
2013 pas.sion, Sol Collective (Sacramento, CA)
2013 Beyond the Book, Hoehn Family Galleries, University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
2012 Mole and Hot Sauce, Voz Alta Project Gallery (San Diego, CA)
2012 Goyaʼs Disasters of War: A Legacy in Print, Hoehn Family Galleries at University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
Performances:
2020 It’s Dangerous Times, We Have To Be Connected, MOCA (Los Angeles, CA)
2019 Open Space, BackSpace Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
2019 Vibe Check, Ed and Gayle Roski Master of Fine Arts Gallery, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2019 Returning to the definition of the Sun, ltd los angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
2019 Reunidos, ltd los angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
2019 Rain Dance, ltd los angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
2018 Black Lives Matters, NADA (Miami, FL)
2018 Black Lives Matters, Prizm Art Fair (Miami, FL)
2018 In response to Zoe Leonard’s ‘I want a President’, Hauser & Wirth (Los Angeles, CA)
2018 Training Camp, USC Ed and Gayle Roski MFA Parking Lot (Los Angeles, CA)
2018 De La Calle, Institution of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, CA)
2017 Performance Series: Mid-City Angels, Shoot The Lobster (Los Angeles, CA)
Prizes and Awards:
2019 Roski Outstanding MFA Student, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2018 Macomber Travel Grant, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2018 Dean’s Merit Award, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2013 Departmental Honors: Exceptional Performance in Visual Art, University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
2013 Associated Student Research Grant, University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
2012 Associated Student Research Grant University of San Diego, (San Diego, CA)
2012 Keck Faculty Research Grant University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
Residencies and Fellowships:
2019 Post-MFA Teaching Fellowship, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2017 Matthew J. Mahoney Artist-in-Residence program at San Diego Art Institute (San Diego, CA)
2015 San Diego Foundation: Creative Catalyst Fellowship (San Diego, CA)
Press and Publications:
2020 Latinx Art: Artist, Markets, and Politics by Arlene Dávila, print.
2020 Crenshaw Dairy Mart in Inglewood Rethinks the Fine Arts Structure, KCET: https://www.kcet.org/shows/southland-sessions/crenshaw-dairy-mart-in-inglewood-rethinks-the-fine-arts-structure
2020 In South Los Angeles, Art Is a Force for Community Empowerment, Hyperallergic:
https://hyperallergic.com/579339/south-la-crenshaw-dairy-mart-residency-art-gallery-summaeverythang/
2019 Patrisse Cullors creates an online MFA program to develop new artist-activists, Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-11-21/patrissecullors-black-lives-matter-mfa-program-art-activism
2019 USC Roski MFA Catalog, print.
2018 Ana Briz on Noé Olivas: a la Calle, Riting.org: https://www.riting.org/post/182229625849/ana-briz- on-no%C3%A9-olivas-a-la-calle
2018 Why artist Rafa Esparza led a surreal art parade through the heart of L.A.’s fashion district, Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-rafaesparza-ica-la- 20180625-story.html
2016 (art)Scene Podcast Ep. #17: http://www.artscenepc.com/tag/noe-olivas/
2015 Creative Catalyst winners announced, U-T San Diego:
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/sdut-san-diego-foundationcreative-
catalyst-2015-2015jan24-story.html
2015 The(art)Scene Podcast Ep. #5: http://www.artscenepc.com/noeolivas/
2015 San Diego City Beat: http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-14171-noè-olivaschannels-
his- automotive-love-into-a-kid-friendly-art-space.html
2013 USD Magazine: http://www.sandiego.edu/publications/usdmag/spring-2013-2/features/pure- imagination/