Biography
Juan Parada (Curitiba, PR, 1979). Graduated from the Escola de Belas Artes do Paraná in 2002, Juan Parada began his research in ceramics in 2003. Since then, he has been working with installations, sculptures, urban interventions and spatial insertions. His research revolves mainly around questions of three-dimensionality and the relationship between time and space, establishing dialogues with architecture.
A significant part of his production are the "Geometric Reliefs," which present a particular interest of the artist for graphic-sculptural issues explored in reliefs on the two-dimensional plane of the wall. According to Parada, they are progression and flow experiences of geometric and organic forms, arising from structural solutions and natural phenomena. In his production, references to generative forms are also added, both in micro and macro scale, in volumes that act in a mathematical logic, in which patterns emerge from modified algorithms.
With an attentive look at the history of art, Parada has as reference fundamental names that contemplate and evidence contemporary multiplicity and permeability, such as Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Anselm Kiefer, Olafur Eliasson and Lee Ufan. Discussing notions of three-dimensionality, his production is structured and related sustained by specific poetic and conceptual columns that mix elements of nature and elements of man, such as architecture, mathematics, biology and physics. The most recent paths of his production dangle between abstraction and figuration, still combining patterns and adding references closely linked to the natural environment.
Juan Parada was nominated for the Pipa Award in 2015 and received an Honorable Mention at the 2nd “Salão Nacional da Cerâmica” (National Ceramics Salon), in Curitiba, in 2008. He was a resident in the artist residency program at Jingdezhen International Studio, China, in 2016 and at HOF Art Residency, Bangkok, Thailand, in 2015. He has participated in several exhibitions and fairs, in Brazil and abroad, among which stand out: “Duas Décadas de Arte Contemporânea: Artistas do Paraná na Bienal de Curitiba” (Two Decades of Contemporary Art: Artists from Paraná at the Curitiba Biennial), MON - Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Curitiba, 2012; Art Expo Malaysia, Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, 2013; "Desenho” (Drawing) curated by Felipe Scovino, SIM Gallery, Curitiba, 2017; International Biennial of Curitiba, MON – Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, 2017; Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, 2017; ArtRio, Rio de Janeiro, 2020. His most recent installation "Respirator," 2021, is part of the exhibition "Organic," curated by Marc Pottier, held at Praça Adolpho Bloch, in São Paulo.
Source: Simões de Assis