Maria A. Guzmán Capron b. 1981
Through a combination of hand-sewn textiles and paints, Maria A. Guzmán Capron joins together an array of patterns and striking colors to fashion bodily forms. Merging figuration with abstraction, these works explore cultural hybridity, pride, and the competing desires to assimilate and to be seen. Born in Milan, Italy to Colombian and Peruvian parents and later relocating to Texas as a teenager, the artist recognizes the challenges of toggling between various cultures and geographies. Her multilayered textile works emphasize that we consist of several identities, some that we repress and some that we exalt.
Capron’s practice explores how clothing is used as a marker of class, gender, and cultural identity. Recycled fabric, in particular, is central to the genesis of her work. Privileging off-cut fabrics—literally centering materials that have been cut and rejected as excess—becomes a metaphor for centralizing that which society undervalues. By contrasting common fibers like cotton with more luxurious fabrics like silk, the artist addresses material hierarchies in art and fashion to parallel the power dynamics that exist within class and gender. She is invested in the friction of mistranslations—of failing to “dress the part” or having one’s pride in self-expression overcast by exoticization.
Exaggerated body parts—signature moves in Capron’s work—render muscular arms that embrace, puffy fingers that clasp together, and slinky legs that intertwine to become one. Through eclectic fabric and subtly painted brushstrokes, these interlaced figures confront the viewer and become an invitation for vulnerability, openness, and individual expression.
Maria A. Guzmán Capron (b. 1981, lives and works in Oakland, CA) was born in Italy to Columbian and Peruvian parents. She received her MFA from California College of the Arts in 2015 and her BFA from the University of Houston in 2004. Solo exhibitions include Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA; Texas State Galleries, San Marcos, TX; Premier Junior, San Francisco, CA; Roll Up Project, Oakland, CA; and Guerrero Gallery San Francisco, CA. Select group exhibitions include Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco; Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA; Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA; pt.2 Gallery, Oakland, CA; NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA; CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA; Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art, Buffalo, NY; Deli Gallery in Brooklyn, NY; and Mana Contemporary in Chicago, IL. Her works have been written about in Hyperallergic, Variable West, Bomb Magazine, and Art in America. The artist has a forthcoming solo exhibition at the Blaffer Art Museum of the University of Houston in 2022.
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronDoble, 2022Fabric, thread, batting, stuffing, spray paint, latex paint70 ¼ x 68 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronEnamorada, 2022Fabric, thread, batting, stuffing, spray paint47 x 63 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronMe Contuve, 2022Fabric, thread, batting, latex paint, spray paint and acrylic paint42.75 x 34 x 2.5 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronDuo, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, latex paint, spray paint and acrylic paint59 x 34 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronSiempre, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, latex paint, spray paint and acrylic paint40 x 62 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronObsequio, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, spray paint and latex paint59 x 46.5 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronTe Quiero, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, latex paint, spray paint and acrylic paint43 x 24 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronSígueme, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, latex paint, spray paint and acrylic paint46 x 36 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronAlba En Tanga, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, latex paint, spray paint and acrylic paint29 x 13 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronTe Llevo Dentro, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, latex paint, spray paint and acrylic paint59 x 29 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronTemblor, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, latex paint, spray paint and acrylic paint34 x 36 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronEquis, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, acrylic and spray paint55 x 51 in
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronDark Poodle, 2016Fabric, thread, batting, stuffing, and paint64.5 x 57 inches
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronMeterorita, 2016Fabric, thread, batting, stuffing, and paint128 x 47.5 inches
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Maria A. Guzmán CapronCuídame, 2021Fabric, thread, batting, spray paint, and latex paint40.5 x 45 inches
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Installation view, Maria A. Guzmán Capron: Celaje, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, November 13, 2021 – January 8, 2022.
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Installation view, Maria A. Guzmán Capron: Celaje, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, November 13, 2021 – January 8, 2022.
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Installation view, Maria A. Guzmán Capron: Celaje, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, November 13, 2021 – January 8, 2022.
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Installation view, Intersecting Selves, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, July 10–August 28, 2021.
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Installation view, Intersecting Selves, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, July 10–August 28, 2021.
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Installation view, Intersecting Selves, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, July 10–August 28, 2021.
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Installation view, Maria A. Guzmán Capron, Olas Malcriadas, Texas State Galleries, August 23–November 12, 2021.
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Installation view, Maria A. Guzmán Capron, Olas Malcriadas, Texas State Galleries, August 23–November 12, 2021.
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Installation view, Maria A. Guzmán Capron, Olas Malcriadas, Texas State Galleries, August 23–November 12, 2021.
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Maria A. Guzmán Capron
Celaje 13 Nov 2021 - 8 Jan 2022Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to present Celaje, a solo exhibition of new textile sculptures by Oakland-based artist Maria A. Guzmán Capron. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles. Through a combination of hand-sewn textiles and paints, Capron joins together an array of patterns and striking colors...Read more -
Intersecting Selves
Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Maria A. Guzmán Capron, Amir H. Fallah, Wendell Gladstone, Julie Henson, Ellen Lesperance, Ebony G. Patterson, and Tori Wrånes 10 Jul - 28 Aug 2021Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to present Intersecting Selves, a group exhibition featuring Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Maria A. Guzmán Capron, Amir H. Fallah, Wendell Gladstone, Julie Henson, Ellen Lesperance, Ebony G. Patterson, and Tori Wrånes. Each of the artists in Intersecting Selves considers the body as a barrier between the...Read more
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Maria A. Guzmán Capron receives SECA Award
SF Chronicle: 5 Bay Area artists named 2022 winners for prestigious SECA Award May 4, 2022By Aidin Vaziri | May 3, 2022 The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has announced the 2022 recipients of its biennial SECA Art Award...Read more -
Now Representing Maria A. Guzmán Capron
November 21, 2021Through a combination of hand-sewn textiles and paints, Maria A. Guzmán Capron joins together an array of patterns and striking colors to fashion bodily forms....Read more
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Variable West: Editor's Picks — Maria A. Guzmán Capron: Celaje
Amelia Rina, Variable West, November 11, 2021 -
Hyperallergic: Maria Guzmán Capron’s Deliciously Tactile Fabric Figures, or “Hot Aliens”
Lauren Moya Ford, Hyperallergic, October 12, 2021 -
Elephant: Now You See Me: The Artists Questioning the Construction of the Self
Madeleine Pollard, Elephant, August 23, 2021 -
BOMB: One Piece: Intrepida by Maria Guzmán Capron
Bomb, October 19, 2018 -
Juxtapoz: Guerrero Gallery's October Exhibitions With Maria Guzmán Capron and Hilary Pecis
Juxtapoz, October 17, 2018