As an interdisciplinary artist, Michael Arcega works across media to create art that is informed by language, history, and geography. In his most recent work he has adopted methodologies used in the anthropological study of world cultures that often emphasize “otherness,” but Arcega turns the tables, positioning North America as ‘the other” whose symbols and rituals must be studied and understood. Though a socio-political critique, Arcega’s work also has a playful element, providing familiar entry points to alternative ways of thinking about the people who colonize the landscape.
Arcega is an Assistant Professor of Art at San Francisco State University. He received an MFA from Stanford University and a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. In 2012, he was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. His work has been exhibited at the Asia Society in New York, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Honolulu Academy of Art, and the Orange Country Museum of Art in Newport Beach.
For the Recology Residency, Arcega will explore the cultural residue of the Nacirema people of North America. Applying strategies of the late anthropologist, Horace Miner, Arcega will attempt to better understand these people’s lives and their daily practices.
Photos and press release for this artist.
Residency: February 2015 - May 2015
Art Exhibition: Friday, May 22 & Saturday, May 23
Visit Michael Arcega's website
Photos for this artist.