ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is abstracted photography: representational yet complicated by the obscuring and absenting of the subject. By inducing movement and manually manipulating light sources, I provoke a figurative tableau into transforming into abstraction. Every shot, every video, is the evidence of a performance with the acts of montage and manipulation performed in camera. Movement is the primary performative act. By maneuvering the camera’s placement, aperture and exposure settings in relation to color fields, landscapes, light sources, precipitation and seascapes, my work pushes the boundaries of perception, creating organic, lyrical free forms. The resultant images retain their pure chroma. Each is the reinterpretation of the original subject with striations that shift in varying intervals and rhythms, alternately compressing and expanding positive and negative space. However obscured each composition may be, a firm representational vantage point remains host to personal objects and scenario manipulations, making each image a direct reflection of my ever-changing environment.
CURRICULUM VITAE
RODOLFO CHOPERENA
217 KING WILLIAM
SAN ANTONIO, TX 78204
(210)393-8228
CHOPERENA@MAC.COM
Solo Exhibitions
2018
Alternative Materials, Studio Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
2017
A Few of My Favorite Things, Musical Bridges Around the World Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Personal Space, Overland Partners Art Program, San Antonio, TX
Interventions of Light, Dock Space Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2016
Fifty. Gama Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
Rodolfo Choperena: The Wave, Artemisa Gallery, New York, NY
2015
Recent Work, Cinq Gallery, Dallas, TX
2014
The Fine Line, Vaudeville Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX
Interventions of Light, ArtLima, Cinnabar Gallery, Lima, Peru
2013
Art Board #1, Guadalupe Cultural Art Center, San Antonio, TX
2012
Untitled, Guthrie Contemporary Gallery, New Orleans, LA
The New Mexican: Recent Work, Santa Fe, NM
2011
ArtSee Miami, Miami, FL
Recent Work, Fotoseptiembre, Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
Recent Work, PhotoNOLA, Guthrie Contemporary, New Orleans, LA
2009
Inaugural Exhibition, 4Design Gallery, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Unexpected: Recent Works by Rodolfo Choperena, G2 ArtSight, San Antonio, TX
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
Painting For Youth, Scholas Ocurrentes, Rome, Italy
2017
Ataturk Maslak Auto Industrial Zone Exhibit, Gama Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
Blue Show, Core New Art Space, Denver, CO
Aggregate, Cinq Gallery, Dallas, TX
Sweet Sixteen, Flight Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2016
The Looking Glass, Walker’s Gallery, San Marcos, TX
Arte Nuevo / New Art: San Antonio 2016, University of Texas at San Antonio
2015
New Draw, Cinq Gallery, Dallas, TX
Take Me To The River, Octavia Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Cinq Summer Seven, Cinq Gallery, Dallas, TX
2014
Momentary Realities, Cinnabar Gallery, San Antonio, TX
The Vastness Is Bearable, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
Arte Nuevo / New Art: San Antonio 2014, University of Texas at San Antonio
Summer Solstice, Octavia Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2013
ITCH, Flight Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Biophilia: Piso 51, Mexico City, Mexico
2012
Big and Bright: New Work From Texas, Southwestern College Art Gallery,
Chula Vista, CA
Shilpa: Colors of India-Pakistan-Bangladesh, Walkers’ Gallery, San Marcos, TX
Arte Nuevo / New Art: San Antonio 2012, University of Texas at San Antonio
Temporary Exhibits, City Hall, Public Art San Antonio
2011
Art Pair, Emily Morgan Hotel, San Antonio, TX
By Permit Only, Guadalupe Cultural Art Center, San Antonio, TX
Transitio_MX 04: The Electronic Arts and Video Festival 04, Mexico City, Mexico
Grupo de los Dieciseis, Mexico City, Mexico
Divine Mercy, Flight Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2010
Photographic Dialogues, Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, TX
Inaugural Exhibit, La Brignonesca, Careyes, Mexico
Dallas Art Fair, Ruiz-Healy Art, Dallas, TX
SELECTED AWARDS & COLLECTIONS
Hasselblad Featured Photographer of the Month, September 2013
C-Wave in Green was collected for the cover of H. Murakami’s Sputnik Sweetheart
Argo Group
Big Tex
Capital One
Changarrito en Accion
Dimensional Fund Advisors
Fullbright & Jaworski
Grande Cheese Company
Guadalupe Cultural Art Center
Hyatt South Beach
Liberto Enterprises
MCA Santa Barbara
Random House
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
San Antonio Spurs
Scholas Ocurrentes
Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital
St. Benedict’s LLC
University of Texas at San Antonio
University Health System San Antonio
Vagabond Hotel
Rubin, David, “Moving the Camera: Rodolfo Choperena’s Photographic Abstractions,” Glasstire, January 18, 2017
Gil, Jason, “Rodolfo Choperena’s ’Interventions of Light’ Showcase Movement,“ Nowcastsa, January 13, 2017
Günay, Elif, “Rodolfo Choperena 50, ” Once Vatan, Istanbul, September 27, 2016
Olmos, Isabel, “Hoteles en Miami apuestan por colecciones de arte propias,” El Nuevo Herald, June 28, 2015
Rosenbloom, Stephanie, “The Gateway,” The New York Times, March 17, 2015
Aguilar y Maya, Marcela and Perea, Barbara, “Rodolfo Choperena Artista de la Luz,” La Revista, Mexico February 2015
Arnold, Liz, “Balanced Equation,” LUXE Magazine, Houston Edition Fall 2014
Silva, Elda. “Photographer Plays With Time,” San Antonio Express-News, October 12, 2014
Goddard, Dan R., “Postmodern Concepts Collide In Cinnabar’s Momentary Realities,” San Antonio Current, October 8, 2014
Castañeda, Janila, “Rodolfo Choperena: La Estética del Movimeinto,” Revista Farenheit, September 14, 2014
Nikitas, Theano. “Profile Update,” Hasselblad Bulletin, September 1, 2013
Gordon, Holly, “UTSA Alumnus Rodolfo Choperena Explores Color Through Abstract Photographs,” UTSA Today, December 8, 2011
Gupta, Anjali, “Chroma,” latinamericanart.com, August 4, 2011
Dirkson, Kirish, “Sitting Down With Rudy Choperena,” Kindform, July 22, 2011
Silva, Elda, “Guadalupe’s Poster Exhibit Blurs Lines Between Street, Gallery Art,” San Antonio Express News, July 25, 2011
Fisch, Sarah, “Top Critic’s Picks,” San Antonio Current, September 9, 2009
Dickens, Scott, “Rodolfo Choperena’s Unexpected Outcomes,”examiner.com, September, 2009
Bennet, Steve, “Seeing Mexico in a Bend of Light,” San Antonio Express-News, September 27, 2009
Fisch, Sarah, “CAM, FIN: I said GOOD DAY, Contemporary Art Month,” Plaza De Armas, March 28, 2009