BIOGRAPHY
Gabriella Torres is a poet, abstract artist and community arts organizer. She specializes in creating large-scale, vibrant abstract paintings that focus on themes of balance and connectivity. She is passionate about creating community-based art experiences that promote civic engagement and the arts. Most recently she activated an underutilized Pocket Park to create an outdoor public art display called, The Grove– an “art forest” consisting of 12 free-standing wooden frames ranging in height from 4 to 10-feet that hold suspended art pieces on canvas panels. She is actively working with city officials to turn The Grove into a permanent outdoor art gallery. Her work can be found at gbart.studio or on Instagram at @gabibirdartist.
CV
E D U C A T I O N | University of Birmingham, England:M.A. in TEFL/TESOL with Merit, 2013 | The New School University, New York: M.F.A. Creative Writing with a Concentration in Poetry, 2005. University of Iowa, Iowa City: B.A. with Distinction in Comparative Literature, 2000.
P A I N T I N G | Exhibitions – Solo: 2021 – Clinton Community College Library Gallery; Clinton, Iowa (Sept-Dec) | 2022- On View Online Gallery; Cedar Rapids, Iowa (March) | 2022- Feedwell; Cedar Rapids, Iowa (April)
2022- The Sawmill Museum; Clinton, Iowa (May) | 2022- Pocket Park; Clinton, Iowa (June) | 2023- River Arts Center (Sept-Nov) | Exhibitions – Group: 2020 -The Loft Gallery; Morrison, Illinois | 2021 – “Habitat” – Galleria di Arte Cael Pipin; Milan, Italy (June) | 2021 – “Little Talks” – Creativity Art Design of Palazzo Saluzzo; Genoa, Italy (July) 2021 – Paris Art Fair, International Contemporary Art Fair; Paris, France (June) 2021 – “Essence” – MONAT Gallery; Madrid, Spain (Sept) | 2021 – “Flânerie” – Galeria Azur; Madrid, Spain (Sept) | 2021 – Iowa Pop Art; Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Sept) | 2021 – Artisan’s Sanctuary; Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Oct) | 2022 – Iowa Pop Art; CSPS, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (May) | 2022- Iowa Pop Art; Clinton, Iowa (August) | 2022- Iowa Pop Art; Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Sept) | 2022- GALERÍA AZUR POP UP NEW YORK -(Sept).
Gallery Representation: 2021 – Five 3 Gallery; Laguna Beach, California | 2021 – MONAT Gallery; Madrid, Spain | 2021 – Galleria Azur; Madrid, Spain (Ongoing) | 2022 – On View Gallery; Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Publicity & Publications: 2020 House & Garden (May-August) | 2020 British Vogue (Sept) | 2021 Our Love Letter to Iowa Newsletter, ia Magazine (March) | 2021 Clinton Herald (April) | 2021 CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS 2021: MADRID EDITION, Guto Ajayu Culture (Oct) | 2021 Circle Quarterly Magazine (Nov) | 2022 Quad City Arts Blog (Jan) | 2022 Iowa Culture (Jan) | 2022 Clinton Herald (Feb) | 2022 Clinton Herald (May) | 2022 Paula Sands Live (June) | 2022 OurQuadCities.com (June) | 2022 Hola America News (June) | 2022 The Gazette (Aug) | Honors/Grants | Recipient of 2021 QC Arts Arts Dollars Project Grant Award | Recipient of 2021 Iowa Arts & Culture Resilience Grant | Recipient of 2021/2022 American Rescue Plan Arts Grant | Recipient of 2022 QC Arts Arts Dollars Artist Grant Award
Panels, Presentations, Conferences: 2022 Iowa Arts Summit, “Making a Creative Life in Iowa” (Des Moines) | 2022 Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities, Clinton Iowa Alumni Panel (Clinton)
STATEMENT
As an artist, I create abstract works of exploratory art that create space for self-discovery, healing, and wholeness. My work celebrates the harmony between the disparate parts that come together to form the whole and the tissue that connects them. I encourage critical thinking and create work that promotes engagement and dialogue in diverse audiences in order to work towards a culturally rich, diverse, inclusive, and equitable community.
