USA Projects

Gema Alava (b. 1973 Madrid, Spain) lives and works in New York City. She has studied at the Facultad de Bellas Artes de Madrid, Universidad Complutense; the Chelsea College of Art and Design, The London Institute; and at the San Francisco Art Institute, California.

In 1995 she was awarded second prize in Spain's National Drawing Competition, Premio Penagos, being the youngest artist and first woman to achieve such recognition. She's been the recepient of an Erasmus Fellowship; a La Caixa Foundation Fellowship for postgraduate studies in the United States; was accepted simultaneously to the emerging art programs from Aljira- A center for Contemporary Art, and the Bronx  Museum of the Arts in New York City; and, in 2011, she was nominated for, and awarded, a Peter Reed Foundation Fellowship.

Currently, Alava is focused on FIND ME, TRUST ME and TELL ME, a trilogy that researches the interrelationship between the educational, interpretative, public and private aspects of art.

Alava has worked for nearly a decade as a lecturer, art educator and education consultant in the Education Departments of the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Morgan Library and Museum, and the Museum of the City of New York; working with many audiences in numerous programs, including Family, School, Adult, Special Events, Professional Development, VIP, as well as Access Programs specially designed for individuals and groups with disabilities.

Alava counts with more than twenty solo exhibitions (Madrid, London, San francisco and New York). Her artwork has been exhibited, presented, and/or founded by the Ministry of Education and Sciences of Spain; the Queens Museum of Art, NY; the Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY; the Rana Museum in Norway; the Morgan Library and Museum, NY; the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Miami, FL; CUE Art Foundation, NY; the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain; the San Francisco Art Institute, CA; New York University, NY; Columbia University, NY; the Jersey City Museum, USA; the London Institute, UK; the United Nations Building, NY;  Fundacion La Caixa, Spain; Fundacion Maphre, Spain; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NY; the General Consulate of Spain in New York and the Cervantes Institute. Her art project "A Dialogue" was selected by artist Cai Guo Qiang and performed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2008. Her art Project "Trust Me" was selected by Wooloo to be performed at MANIFESTA 8, The European Biennial of Contemporary Art (Murcia), Spain.

Alava's art work has received national and international recognition in many publications including The New York Times, Diario ABC, Diario El Pais, Fiber Arts Magazine, Agencia EFE, and has been broadcasted in HITM Television, NY1 Noticias, Mega TV News, NCI Noticias, RTVE, and TVE National Television of Spain.