As a contemporary artist engaged in research and scholarly activities, I am interested in investigating visual processes that can reveal ephemeral and unique experiences in everyday life. Being born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, and then living in cities in France, the U.S.A, and Canada has taught me orientation strategies that help me to understand and to be really connected to these locations. This process has a tremendous influence on how my work moves; every location tells me something about itself as I engage artistically with it. It creates a new experience while evoking memories of past places and times in a dynamic relationship that activates the awareness, presence, and meaning of this new environment. Thus, I truly believe places are calling to be explored either through sensorial, phenomenological, geographical, or historical aspects or a blend of all of these effects.
Full comprehension of a place does not necessarily come to us naturally; sometimes, we have to make an effort to dig in and understand it. A sense of belonging takes time. Now, having lived in Calgary for 9 years, I have noticed over the years that my perception of the city has changed as my appreciation of it keeps growing. Consequently, my art practice has underscored the need to be fully present and responsive to experiences in our local, natural, and urban environments. My drawings, photographs, and participatory events enable viewers and myself to take an active role in perceiving our surroundings in a fresh, more appreciative and engaged way. Every art project I have performed unfolds differently, depending on the particularities of a certain place and my responses to it. Each work opens new questions for me and offers fresh challenges and insights about how to facilitate participants’ fuller experience of a place.
Isabel Porto
Contato: isabel@isabelporto.com
Formação
2014 Graduate Degree Master of Fine Arts, Department of Art University of Calgary, Canadá
2005 Degree in Art Education from the Faculdade de Artes do Paraná, Curitiba, Brasil
National and Provincial Scholarships
2014 Graduate Scholarship from Faculty of Graduate Studies, Universidade de Calgary
2013 SSHRC, Joseph-Armand Bombardier (CGS)
2013 Graduate Scholarship from Faculty of Graduate Studies, Universidade de Calgary
2012 Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship
Public Art Projects supported by Public Funds
2016 Community-Based Public Art Project with the City of Calgary in partnership with the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre through the 2016 Artists Working in Community public art professional development course
2008 Bolsa Produção 02 – Fellowship by the City of Curitiba and the Art Foundation of Curitiba, Brasil
Art Exhibitions and Public Art Projects
*(R) Peer review and selective competition/process
2019 (R) Porto, Isabel. Walking Window: Drawing on the Everyday Life of the Alberta Hospitals. Those Who Wander a group exhibition at the McMullen Gallery, Edmonton, Janeiro 5th to February 24th
2018
(R) Porto, Isabel. New Iteration of the Walking Window, a Community-Based Public Art Project at the Alberta Hospitals in partnership with the McMullen Gallery & Friends of the University Hospitals, Edmonton, Novembro 23rd e 24th
(Invited) Porto, Isabel. Landscape Tracing at the Leighton Art Centre during the Alberta Culture Days, September 30th
(R) Porto, Isabel. Windows of Beaulieu. Formed by Sand a group exhibition at the Lougheed House, Calgary, June 21st to September 30th
2017
(R) Porto, Isabel. Drawing on Transit. Field Station – Tuscany LRT Community Cultural Development, An Artistic Collaboration with the GO collaborative + Legge Lewis Legge team, the City of Calgary and Calgary Transit. August 28th, September 17th and October 29th
(R) Porto, Isabel. A Book Inside the Temple of Knowledge. Spectral Illumination II, a projection mapping with EMMEDIA and Calgary Public Library during Beakerhead event at the Memorial Park Library, September 13th
2016
(Invited) Porto, Isabel. Perceptual Drawing at the Leighton Art Centre during the Alberta Culture Days, October 1st and 2nd
(R) Porto, Isabel. Walking Window, a Community-Based Public Art Project with the City of Calgary in partnership with the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre through the 2016 Artists Working in Community public art professional development course. Fifteen images resulting from the outdoors drawing event Walking Window were on display at the Sheldon M. Chumir Centre’s window facing 12 Ave SW, Calgary, July to December
(R) Porto, Isabel. Two Untitled Photographs, Constructions Sites Shaganappi Station. Headlines Exhibition through the Alberta Society of Arts. Northern Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, January 15th to February 26th and Sothern Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary April 15th to May 30th
2014
(R) Porto, Isabel. Perceptual Drawing. MFA Exhibition, Nickle Galleries, Universidade de Calgary, Perceptual Drawing was a site specific work at the +15 between Taylor Family Digital Library and MacKimmie Library, Universidade de Calgary, August 8th to September 30th
(R) Porto, Isabel. Collaborative Drawing. ADGSA symposium and exhibition Performative Ecologies: Thinking Through Research Practices,” Drawing Interventions at the Pedway between Fine Arts Building and HUB International, University of Alberta, Edmonton, March 20th to 22nd; the exhibition remained until April 4th at the dc3 Art Projects, Edmonton, Canadá
2012 (R) Porto, Isabel. Circulando. st[art] Residency Program by Calgary Allied Arts Foundation, Art Central, Calgary, Canadá, Abril à Junho
2009 (R) Porto, Isabel. Three untitled C-Print. 5a. Bienal VentoSul, Museu de Arte Contemporanea do Paraná, MAC, Curitiba, Brasil
2008 (R) Porto, Isabel. Convite ao Largo da Ordem. Memorial de Curitiba, Curitiba, Brasil
2007 (R) Porto, Isabel. NW 41st Street Series. SESC da Esquina, Curitiba, Brasil
1999 (R) Porto, Isabel. A Marca. (A Marca) Exhibition for the winners of the Heineken Art Contest “Heineken, Novos Talentos da Pintura” (Heineken, New Painting Talents) at the Museu da Republica do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. A obra agora faz parte da coleção do Museu Heineken em Amsterdam, Holanda
Artworks Published
2017 Porto, Isabel and Harry Sanders. Drawing on Transit. Field Station, A community project for the neighbourhood of Tuscany, Royal Oak and Rocky Ridge in partnership City of Calgary, Go Collaborative and Legge Lewis Legge, Summer and Fall, pages 22 para 29
2015 Porto, Isabel. Perceptual Drawing. Editar. Canadian Art, Smart Guide. The Changing School: A Guide to Canadian Art Schools Thinking Outside the Box. Canadian Art. Winter 2015, pages 49 e 74
2014 Porto, Isabel. Perceptual Drawing. Maerten, Aurelie. Skywalk Drawings Offer a Window on New Way to See Art. Last Modified, Novembro 2014: https://www.ucalgary.ca/utoday/issue/2014-08-13/skywalk-drawings-offer-window-new-way-see-art
2010 Flórez, Fernando C. Isabel Porto. Editar. Escobar, Ticio; Amarante, Leonor. 5a. Bienal Vento Sul. (Curitiba: Instituto Paranaense de Arte, 2010) pages 276 e 277
2009 Porto, Isabel. Convite ao Largo da Ordem. Editar. Fundação Cultural de Curitiba. Bolsa Produção para Artes Visuais 02 (Curitiba: Fundação Cultural de Curitiba, 2008) pages 68 para 71, 127 e 136
Professional and Academic Contributions
2019 Part of the ongoing Public Art Procurement Working Group sessions organized by the City of Calgary’s Public Art Program engaging local artists into a conversation about how the Public Art Program can improve their procurement processes. Session were once a month from May through November
2017 Public presentation of the Walking Window project and Jury for the selection panel of Artists Working in Community course 2017, during the Public Art 101 series at the Canyon Meadows Aquatics and Fitness Centre, Junho 24th. Final selection panel at City’s public art program offices, July 11th
2016 Public Art Selection Panel: Porto, Isabel. After the completion of Artists Working in Community course, a final project proposal was presented for the Sheldon M. Chumir in partnership with the City of Calgary during the Public Art 101 series. Gallery Hall, Taylor Family Library University of Calgary, Canadá, April 30th
2015 Invited talk: Porto Isabel. Perceptual Drawing: A Perspective of Experience. Graduate Student Research Panel as part of the School of Creative and Performing Art’s (SCPA) inaugural speaker series, which is being organized by the SCPA’s Inter-Arts Research Committee, Universidade de Calgary, Canadá, March 16th
2014
Invited talk: Porto, Isabel; Minoofar, Setareh; Downey, William. Nickle at Noon series–MFA Exhibition. Nickle Galleries, Universidade de Calgary, Calgary, Canadá, September 18th
Invited talk: Porto, Isabel; Auffret, Kacie; Sun, prOphecy; Motutfirth, Monique; Sipppy, Grace. Artist’s Panel and Question and Answers for the ADGSA exhibition “Performative Ecologies: Thinking Through Research Practices,” at dc3 Art Projects Gallery & University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canadá, March 22nd
2013 Public Presentation: Porto, Isabel. MFA Student Public Presentation. AB 672, Departamento de Arte, Universidade de Calgary, Canadá, Novembro, 20th
2012 Public Presentation: Porto, Isabel. MFA Student Public Presentation. AB 672, Departamento de Arte, Universidade de Calgary, Canadá, November 21st
2008 Public Presentation: Porto, Isabel. Convite ao Largo da Ordem. Solar do Barão, Curitiba, Brasil, June 13th
Sessional Instructor at the Department of Art, Universidade de Calgary
2018 Spring term, Sessional Instructor for the Perspectives in Plein Air course, Departamento de Arte, Universidade de Calgary
2016 Summer term, Sessional Instructor for the Perspectives in Plein Air course, Departamento de Arte, Universidade de Calgary
Teacher Assistant Positions at the Department of Art, Universidade de Calgary
2014
Fall term, Teacher Assistant for instructor Kaarina-Nancy Bauer, Prehistory to later Middle Ages
Winter term, Teacher Assistant for instructor Paul Woodrow, Topics in Art, Technology and Media
2013
Fall term, Teacher Assistant for instructor Craig Fahner, Topics in Art: Survey of New Media.
Winter term, Teacher Assistant for instructor Clyde McConnell, Film Photography
Winter Term, Teacher Assistant for instructor Peter Deacon, Painting II
Other positions at the Department of Art, Universidade de Calgary
2015 Substitute teaching for ART 311.03 course on September 23rd and 30th
2014 Gallery Coordinator of the Little Gallery and Gallery 621 from September 2013 to August
Visiting Artists coordinator from January to March
Volunteer
2016 Assisting Art Classes at Wildflower Arts Centre, January to May
2015
Assisting Art Classes at Wildflower Arts Centre, September to December
Assisting Artist in Residence Chester Lees at Dalhousie School, October to November
Private Commissions
2009 Illustrations for the book O Vôo da Humanidade e 101 tecnologias que mudaram a face da Terra by José Carlos Amarante
2008 Illustrations for the folders and catalogues of the 3o. Simpósio Brasileiro em HLA e Doenças, UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
2007 Illustrations for the folders and catalogues of the 2o. Simpósio Brasileiro em HLA e Doenças, UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
2006 Illustrations for the folders and catalogues of the 1o. Simpósio Brasileiro em HLA e Doenças, UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
1998 Illustration for 2 album covers for a Brazilian rock band – Os Anjos
Extended Studies and Professional Courses
2017 (R) Lo-Fi Projection Mapping workshop taught by Bryce Maruk, August 1st at EMMEDIA
2016 (R) Artists Working in Community course offered by the City of Calgary Public Art Program and led by Dawn Ford, Feb 24th to April 30th
2012 Curso de Fotografia Digital com William Yee na Alberta College of Art + Design, ACAD, Calgary, Canadá
2010 Arte: Reflecão e Atitude with Anna Bella Geiger and Fernando Cocchiarale at the Escola de Arte Visuais Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
2010 O Problema do Espaço na Arte Contemporânea with Leila Danzinger and Luiz Cláudio da Costa at Programa de Pós-Graduacao UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
2006 História da Arte do Paraná with Rosemeire Odahara Graça at Alfredo Andersen Museu, Curitiba, Brasil
1999 & 1998 Desenhos na Cidade with Malu Fatorelli at Centro Cultural da UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
1997 & 1996 Introdução à Arte with Diô Viana at Isabel Oswald atelier, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil