Harold Mendez
May 2020
Harold Mendez bases his work on the complexities of transnational citizenship. Working in image-based media and sculpture, he explores ideas of representation and obscurity. His subject is the body as it appears in fragments and its presence in conditions of displacement. Mendez often questions universal issues of identity as it relates to geography. Mendez holds a BA from Columbia College Chicago and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago; he also studied at Ghana’s School of Art and Design. He has exhibited at Bass Museum (Miami), Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), LAXART(Los Angeles), MoMA PS1 (New York City), Moody Art Center (Houston), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Being: New Photography 2018 at the Museum of Modern Art, (New York City), Project Row Houses (Houston), Renaissance Society (Chicago), Studio Museum Harlem (New York City), and the 2017 Whitney Biennial (New York City). He has forthcoming solo exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) and University of Chicago.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has constrained our ability to physically host artists in Syracuse, Light Work has responded innovatively to offer continued support in the form of remote residencies. The remote residency experience support artists in developing their artistic practice from their home or designated studio space. In addition to the stipend, artists will benefit from technical, professional, and creative support, as well as the extraordinary freedom to determine their own residency’s shape and timing. Our AIR participants can use their month to pursue their projects: photographing, scanning, printing, editing for book projects, and working closely with our staff for feedback and conversation.