Angel Otero
Brooklyn, NY
Angel Otero
Angel Otero was born in 1981 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and grew up in Bayamon, raised primarily by his grandmother. He began his studies at the University of Puerto Rico and left the island at the age of 23 to pursue a BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he also earned an MFA. His recollections of Puerto Rico, growing up with his grandmother, the colors of the island, and items from his childhood home, such as lace, iron gates, and dried flowers, are infused into his paintings, imbuing them with the physical components of memory and identity. Also present in his work is the influence of the artists who came before him. His process is painting representationally onto sheets of glass or canvas and then scraping the oil skins or cutting the canvases to become part of his multi-layered compositions.
Otero was interviewed in 2019 for this profile, in his Bushwick, Brooklyn studio and footage from his Milagros exhibition at Lehmann Maupin from the same year is featured. He has exhibited with the Dallas Contemporary, Susanna Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Kavi Gupta Chicago, SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, GA and Brand New Gallery in Milan, Italy.
“I came upon a program by an artist called Bob Ross. And it was at 3pm after school, and I see this guy with a big afro painting. And he’s painting this, what it seems like, American landscapes of mountains with snow and pine trees, and I had never seen snow in my life. But, the way he was painting it, the way he was describing it as he worked, was quite magical. And I remember trying to emulate his work as well, with the paper, with little pieces of canvas. So, as I re-think about these moments in my life, these memories, it makes a lot of sense to me how I have, at an early age, explored art from this exploration mode of understanding. Not just the art that I want to make, but myself and what will be my interest. And I tried to replicate some of these landscapes and I don’t know what the landscape is about. I don’t have any sort of relationship at all to that landscape. But just the process of it was very interesting to me; how this guy can create such a gorgeous landscape in such a short time. And he was so specific with how you made a fountain, how you made a pine, the specific brushes. All these things were very inspirational to me... It was not just about how to make a painting. It almost was something very therapeutic. You listen to this guy’s voice and how he said it. There was never a problem in painting. Mistakes can become beautiful. And these things resonate with you.”
“I had a moment— a very unique visit by an artist named Adam Scott and it was my first studio visit, with my first advisor. And he entered the studio, he starts saying, “All these are amazing. Oh my God, these are so beautiful.”
And I’m like, “Wow, thank you, thank you.”
He’s like, “No, really, really. These— oh my God, these will sell in no time in a gallery.”
I’m like, “Oh, great. Thanks.”
”Yeah, they have no problem, man. I’m in a vacation, I’m in Hawaii.”
And I’m like, this guy is being sarcastic. And I’m like, “I’m sorry. I feel like you’re speaking to me a little sarcastic, I’m not sure.”
He said, “No, I’m actually telling the truth. They don’t have a problem. So I think they are lacking problem and that’s boring. I think good art should have a discussion, should have a problem. And I feel like you’re standing in a comfortable zone because you know you’re going to make very beautiful looking paintings and you’re staying yourself in that comfortable zone. So it’s up to you, you can put these in a gallery and sell them, or you can put yourself in an uncomfortable zone and see what’s up.””
