🌹 ALEX SANTANA 🌹
Arts writer, editor, and curator with experience in research, exhibitions, public programs, publications, digital marketing, community engagement, & pedagogical initiatives.
EDUCATION
2016
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
MA in Latin American & Caribbean Studies
Thesis: The Unreliable Image: Contemporary Art and Self-Making in the Digital Age
MA in Latin American & Caribbean Studies
Thesis: The Unreliable Image: Contemporary Art and Self-Making in the Digital Age
2014
New York University, New York, NY
BA in Latin American Studies
Thesis: Tarsila do Amaral and the Anthropophagic Rejection of European Cultural Authority
EXHIBITIONS & PROGRAMS
2026
Forthcoming, Felipe Baeza, January–May 2026, Print Center New York, NY
2024
Forest Bathing, September 1–October 27, 2024, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
Spiral Time, June 22–August 4, 2024, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY
Unfixed Ecosystems: Obsidian / Yarrow, Pratt MFA Thesis Exhibitions, March 25–May 10, 2024, The Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Spiral Time, June 22–August 4, 2024, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY
Unfixed Ecosystems: Obsidian / Yarrow, Pratt MFA Thesis Exhibitions, March 25–May 10, 2024, The Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
2023
Behind the Cloud, February 8–May 12, 2023, The Latinx Project at NYU, New York, NY
The oyster middens beneath us, Brooklyn College MFA Thesis Exhibition, May 24–June 14, 2023, Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn, NY
The oyster middens beneath us, Brooklyn College MFA Thesis Exhibition, May 24–June 14, 2023, Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn, NY
2020
Artistas del ahora, Weekly live video call with artists, Instagram Live
Luis Camnitzer: Towards an Aesthetic of Imbalance, January 9–February 15, 2020, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
Luis Camnitzer: Towards an Aesthetic of Imbalance, January 9–February 15, 2020, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
2019
Teresa Burga, September 5–October 12, 2019, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
Summer Series: Artists on Artists, Monthly rooftop program, June–September 2019, Goodwin, Brooklyn, NY
Regina Silveira: Unrealized / Não feito, June 6–July 26, 2019, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
Ricardo Brey: Doble Existencia / Double Existence, February 28–April 6, 2019, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
Regina Silveira: Unrealized / Não feito, June 6–July 26, 2019, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
Ricardo Brey: Doble Existencia / Double Existence, February 28–April 6, 2019, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
2018
Morir Soñando, June 22–August 18, 2018, Knockdown Center, Maspeth, NY
2016
Newcomb Pottery Showcase, Newcomb Art Museum, May 2016, New Orleans, LA
2015
Digital Collectivities Hemispheric Institute GSI Convergence, with collaborators Santiago Tavera, Maybel Morales, and Ana Carolina van Hertwig, November 2015, University of Texas, Austin
SELECTED MEDIA & PRESS
2018
“In Conversation with Alex Santana: On Curating Morir Soñando and Amplifying U.S. Latinx Artists to the Forefront,” Gallery Gurls, July 11, 2018
“Morir Soñando at Knockdown Center, New York,” ArtNews, June 27, 2018
“Morir Soñando at Knockdown Center, New York,” ArtNews, June 27, 2018
2014
Featured in Quetzal Maucci’s “Children of Immigrants,” New York Times, Print, September 21, 2014
SELECTED LECTURES, JURY PANELS, & PRESENTATIONS
2023
Guest Curator, Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn, NY, Spring 2023
2022
Selection committee member, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, FY23 Cultural Development Fund, Spring 2022
Selection committee member, International Sculpture Center, Spring 2022
Advisory Committee, Muña Art Writing Program, Spring 2022, Chicago, IL
Guest Speaker, Latinx Art Seminar, with Arlene Dávila, April 5, 2022, New York University
Guest Speaker, CUE Teen Collective, March 16, 2022, The Clemente Center, New York, NY
Selection committee member, International Sculpture Center, Spring 2022
Advisory Committee, Muña Art Writing Program, Spring 2022, Chicago, IL
Guest Speaker, Latinx Art Seminar, with Arlene Dávila, April 5, 2022, New York University
Guest Speaker, CUE Teen Collective, March 16, 2022, The Clemente Center, New York, NY
2021
“Challenging Biometrics, AI, and Facial Recognition Technologies,” Tanda Spring 2021, Chuquimarca, Chicago, IL
2020
Selection committee member, The Shed Open Call, Spring 2020, New York, NY
Selection committee member, BRICworkspace residency, February 2020, BRIC, Brooklyn, NY
Selection committee member, BRICworkspace residency, February 2020, BRIC, Brooklyn, NY
2019
Panelist, “Contemporary Latinx Art,” with Colectiva Cósmica, October 15, 2019, Allen & Overy, New York, NY
Guest Speaker, Terremoto Art Weekend NYC, with Terremoto Magazine, October 12, 2019, New York, NY
Guest Speaker, Painting & Drawing Senior Seminar, with Gaby Collins-Fernandez, October 11, 2019, SUNY Purchase
Guest Speaker, Terremoto Art Weekend NYC, with Terremoto Magazine, October 12, 2019, New York, NY
Guest Speaker, Painting & Drawing Senior Seminar, with Gaby Collins-Fernandez, October 11, 2019, SUNY Purchase
2018
Panelist, “AW Classroom: A Critique of Art History,” with Kiara Ventura, July 11, 2018, Miranda Kuo Gallery, New York, NY
2015
“Jorge Méndez Blake’s Spatial Subjectivity: The Role of the Artist-Interpreter,” research presentation, October 24, 2015, Tinker Foundation Field Research Conference, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
SELECTED PUBLISHED WORKS
2025
“Waste Scenes: Like Drivel and Like Sawdust,” RAIR Philly, forthcoming 2025
“Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio,” Prospect.6 Triennial Catalog, Print, May 2025
“Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio,” Prospect.6 Triennial Catalog, Print, May 2025
2024
“Awilda Sterling-Duprey’s Improvisational Inquiries,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, December 2024
“75 Latinx Artists to Know,” co-authored with Maximilíano Durón, Paula Mejía, and Mauricio E. Ramírez, ArtNews, October 2024
“Maria Stabio: Half Double,” Kristen Lorello, September 2024
“Instruments #1, #2, #3,” Speculative Instruments of the Black Gooey Universe, published by School for Poetic Computation (SFPC), Print, August 2024
“Eres mía, eres una mina: sobre extracción y el imperio Cisneros / You are Mine, You are a Mine: On Extraction and the Cisneros Empire,” Publicación ONTO, Edición 3, Print, March 2024
“75 Latinx Artists to Know,” co-authored with Maximilíano Durón, Paula Mejía, and Mauricio E. Ramírez, ArtNews, October 2024
“Maria Stabio: Half Double,” Kristen Lorello, September 2024
“Instruments #1, #2, #3,” Speculative Instruments of the Black Gooey Universe, published by School for Poetic Computation (SFPC), Print, August 2024
“Eres mía, eres una mina: sobre extracción y el imperio Cisneros / You are Mine, You are a Mine: On Extraction and the Cisneros Empire,” Publicación ONTO, Edición 3, Print, March 2024
2023
“Sigo Tumbado, Sigo Coronando,” in Verónica Gaona exh. cat., co-authored with Itzel Alejandra Martínez, published by Lawndale Art Center, Print, April 2023
“Behind the Cloud Exhibition Essay,” co-authored with Marissa Del Toro, The Latinx Project, February 2023
“Behind the Cloud Exhibition Essay,” co-authored with Marissa Del Toro, The Latinx Project, February 2023
2022
“Love Letter to Ana Mendieta,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, December 2022
“The Death of an Artist Podcast Failed Ana Mendieta,” co-authored with Néstor David Pastor, Hyperallergic, December 2022
“Cayendo de árboles / Falling From Trees: Chaos and Futurity in the Work of Cristina Tufiño,” Precog Magazine, Volume 7, Print, Fall 2022
“Hong Hong and Darryl DeAngelo Terrell: In Collaboration with the Sun,” NXTHVN Yearbook 03, Print, Summer 2022
“Anthropocentric Fossils: On Christine Egaña Navin’s Circling the Square,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, March 2022
“Werehyena,” Sicky Magazine, March 2022
“The Death of an Artist Podcast Failed Ana Mendieta,” co-authored with Néstor David Pastor, Hyperallergic, December 2022
“Cayendo de árboles / Falling From Trees: Chaos and Futurity in the Work of Cristina Tufiño,” Precog Magazine, Volume 7, Print, Fall 2022
“Hong Hong and Darryl DeAngelo Terrell: In Collaboration with the Sun,” NXTHVN Yearbook 03, Print, Summer 2022
“Anthropocentric Fossils: On Christine Egaña Navin’s Circling the Square,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, March 2022
“Werehyena,” Sicky Magazine, March 2022
2021
Interview with Tiempo de Zafra “On Excess and Things That Could Always Be More,” Precog Magazine, Issue 6, Print, Fall 2021
︎︎”Shellyne Rodriguez and Danielle de Jesus: Siempre en la calle [Review],” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, December 2021
“Soberanía visual indígena: por todas las memorias que aún han sido grabadas,” en colaboración con Lorena Cruz Santiago, Terremoto Magazine, Issue 21, Print, August 2021
“Indigenous Visual Sovereignty: For All the Memories Yet To Be Recorded,” co-authored with Lorena Cruz Santiago, Terremoto Magazine, Issue 21, Print, August 2021
“Archival Irreverence,” in Lizania Cruz: Gathering Evidence: Santo Domingo & New York City, published by CUE Art Foundation, Print, July 2021
“Perhaps a Fragment is All We Have: On Stephanie Acosta’s Good Day God Damn,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, July 2021
“Artistas dominicanos manifiestan la liberación en el Centro León: Reseña,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, March 2021
“Dominican Artists Model Liberation at Centro León: Review,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, March 2021
︎︎”Shellyne Rodriguez and Danielle de Jesus: Siempre en la calle [Review],” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, December 2021
“Soberanía visual indígena: por todas las memorias que aún han sido grabadas,” en colaboración con Lorena Cruz Santiago, Terremoto Magazine, Issue 21, Print, August 2021
“Indigenous Visual Sovereignty: For All the Memories Yet To Be Recorded,” co-authored with Lorena Cruz Santiago, Terremoto Magazine, Issue 21, Print, August 2021
“Archival Irreverence,” in Lizania Cruz: Gathering Evidence: Santo Domingo & New York City, published by CUE Art Foundation, Print, July 2021
“Perhaps a Fragment is All We Have: On Stephanie Acosta’s Good Day God Damn,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, July 2021
“Artistas dominicanos manifiestan la liberación en el Centro León: Reseña,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, March 2021
“Dominican Artists Model Liberation at Centro León: Review,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, March 2021
2020
“Symbiotically Aligned: Disease and Healing in Guadalupe Maravilla's Performances,” Intervenxions The Latinx Project, May 2020
“Phenomena of Dispersion in Teresa Margolles’ En el aire,” Precog Magazine, Issue 5, Print, February 2020
“Phenomena of Dispersion in Teresa Margolles’ En el aire,” Precog Magazine, Issue 5, Print, February 2020
2019
“The Most Influential Latin American Artists of the 20th Century,” Artsy, November 18, 2019
Chronology in Teresa Burga, published by Alexander Gray Associates, Print, September 2019
Chronology in Teresa Burga, published by Alexander Gray Associates, Print, September 2019
Interview with Ricardo Brey, included within Ricardo Brey: Doble Existencia / Double Existence, published by Alexander Gray Associates, Print, February 2019
2018
Introduction in Morir Soñando, exh. cat., August 2018
2017
“Artists as Laborers,” Brooklyn Rail Critic’s Page, October 5, 2017
“Not in the Fast-Lane: Anthony Hernandez’s Photography,” Eye-Level, Smithsonian American Art Museum, July 2017
“Not in the Fast-Lane: Anthony Hernandez’s Photography,” Eye-Level, Smithsonian American Art Museum, July 2017
WORK
Current
2018-20
2018-20
Associate Editor, The Latinx Project at NYU, New York, NY
Associate Director, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
Associate Director, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
2016–18
Manager of Public Engagement, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
2016
Program Associate for Artist Support, Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, LA
2015–16
Graduate Research Associate, Newcomb Art Museum, New Orleans, LA
2015
Graduate Curatorial Fellow, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
2013–14
Development Intern, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
FELLOWSHIPS
2023
Pollinate! Fellow, Rock Steady Farm, Millerton, NY
Programming Fellow, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
Programming Fellow, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
2021
Research Fellow, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, New York, NY