Biography

Costa Rica–born Juan Ortiz-Apuy has lived and worked in Montreal since 2003. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Studio Arts at Concordia University. Working in his favoured techniques of collage and assemblage, he makes art driven by thinking around consumer goods, often employing humour to explore the advertising and media strategies associated with them. His works—which he presents in the form of multimedia installations—draw inspiration from design, art history and pop culture.

His work has been shown in several museums and art centres across Canada as well as abroad, including the Fondation Phi pour l’art contemporain (Montreal), Birch Contemporary Gallery (Toronto), OPTICA, centre d’art contemporain (Montréal), ARTSPACE (Peterborough), the Carleton University Art Gallery (Ottawa), the IKEA Museum (Älmhult, Sweden), as well as at MOMENTA | Biennale de l’image in Montreal and Manif d’art 7 in Quebec City. In 2011 he was the beneficiary of the Halifax Regional Municipality Contemporary Visual Art Purchase Program. Upcoming projects include a solo show at Open Space (Victoria), and residencies at MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA, USA) and the Zentrum Für Keramik (Berlin).

Juan Ortiz-Apuy holds a BFA from Concordia University, where he now teaches, along with a postgraduate diploma from the Glasgow School of Art and an MFA from NSCAD University.

juanortiz-apuy.com

Juan Ortiz-Apuy, Tropicana, still, 2020. Courtesy of the artist.