Costa Rican artist Marton Robinson has an interdisciplinary background informed by his studies in both Physical Education and Art and Visual Communication. He completed an MFA at the University of Southern California. Robinson’s art, which is informed mainly by African-American traditions, challenges the conventional representations of black identities in art history, mainstream culture, and the official national narratives, especially those of Costa Rica. With an often ironic and rhetorical take on the constructs of racism, this practice endeavors to confront the hierarchies and conceptions inherited from colonialism in order to subvert the mindsets and prejudices ingrained in our social experience. Robinson’s work exposes the nuances present in the Afro-Latino experience, enriching the critical discourse of contemporary works of the African Diaspora.
Robinson has participated in exhibitions in spaces such as: The Getty Center, California; Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, Costa Rica; Vincent Price Art Museum, California; Fundación Ars TEOR/éTica, Costa Rica; Museo de Arte Costarricense, Costa Rica; New Wight Gallery, California; X Bienal Centroamericana, Costa Rica; Pacific Standard Time LA/LA; Aidekman Arts Center, Boston; Le Palais de Tokyo, France; Bergen Kjøtt, Bergen, Norway; Centro de la Imagen, México; ARTBO, Colombia; Prizm Art Fair; Mandeville Gallery, New York; Gallery GVCC, Casablanca; Museo Amparo, México; 21st Biennial Contemporary Art Sesc Videobrasil, Brazil.
CV
Marton Robinson
Born 1979. San José, Costa Rica
Lives and works between San José, Los Angeles, CA and Toronto.
EDUCATION
2018
University of Southern California,
Roski School of Art and Design
Master’s in fine arts
2015
National University of Costa Rica
BFA, Visual Arts and Communications
2013
National University of Costa Rica
MSc, Integral Health and Human Movement
2007
National University of Costa Rica
BPhEd, Teaching of Physical Education, Sports,
and Recreation
AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, RESIDENCIES
2021
Office for Contemporary Art Norway
Home-based Residency (Oslo, Norway)
Eyebeam Fractal Fellowship
(New York, NY)
2020
The Fountainhead Residency
(Miami, FL)
2017
The Impact Award, Art Direction
Tracking Ida IndieCade, 10th Anniversary Festival
(Los Angeles, CA)
Best Gameplay Winner, Art Direction
Tracking Ida Games for Change Awards
(New York, NY)
2016
Artist International Fellowship
University of Southern California
(Los Angeles, CA)
Alter-academia Residency
TEOR/éTica
(San José, Costa Rica)
2015
Honorable Mention for Bro Two Shoes
Inquieta Imagen 15
Museum of Contemporary Art and Design
(San José, Costa Rica)
Exhibitions
Performances
2021
No le digas a mi mano derecha lo que hace la izquierda.
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (San José, Costa Rica)
2020
La Virtualidad del Cuerpo Aparecer y Desaparecer en tiempos de Guerra
Primera Trienal Internacional de Performance (Santiago de Chile, Chile)
2019
No le digas a mi mano derecha lo que hace la izquierda
21st Biennial Contemporary Art Sesc_Videobrasil (Santiago, Chile)
Organegreros
Hemi Encuentro, The World Inside Out: Humor, Noise, and Performance (Ciudad de México, México)
Individual/Two Person
2019
No hay más que un nombre + Gala Berger
Centro Cultural Español (San José, Costa Rica)
2018
No hay más que un mundo + Gala Berger
Reunión (San José, Costa Rica)
Corpo real + Jazmín Urrea
Flatline Gallery (Long Beach, California)
2014
¿Y qué fue de Cocorí?
TEOR/éTica: Sala Poligráfica (San José, CR)
Group
2022
Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s – today
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Ritual
Museos del Banco Central de Costa Rica (San José, Costa Rica)
Archives of Resistance
White Water Gallery (North Bay, ON)
2021
Horizonte Espinoso
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (San José, Costa Rica)
Trienal Internacional de Performance DEFORMES Chile.
Santiago-Talca, Chile
CORPOGRAFÍAS
Museo Arte Contemporáneo (Panamá)
A Tourist In Your Own Home
MCLA Gallery 51 (North Adams, MA)
Transoceanic Visual Exchange
The Fresh Milk Art Platform – TEOR/ética (Barbados – Costa Rica)
2020
Fallen Monuments
EPOCH Gallery (Virtual Experiment)
Biomythography: Making Visible
Cerritos College Art Gallery (Norwalk, CA)
Aquí No Pasa Nada
La Embajada (Cuidad México, México)
2019
Ganas de Existir
Angels Gate Cultural Center (San Pedro, CA)
Digital Africa: International Biennale of Casablanca Incubator program
Gallery GVCC (Casablanca, Morocco)
La inmedible dimensión del caos
TEOR/éTica, (San José, Costa Rica)
Hemi Encuentro, The World Inside Out: Humor, Noise, and Performance
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Cuidad México, México)
Africamericanos
Museo Amparo (Puebla, México)
21st Biennial Contemporary Art Sesc_Videobrasil
Sesc Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
2018
A Decolonial Atlas: Strategies in Contemporary Art of the Americas
Union College (Schenectady, NY)
Currency
Art Basel: Prizm Art Fair (Miami, FL)
Referentes: Diálogos a través del tiempo
ArtBo (Bogotá, Colombia)
Africamericanos
Centro de la Imagen (CDMX, México)
Video Sur: Una programación de video arte de América Latina
Le Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France)
A Decolonial Atlas: Strategies in Contemporary Art of the Americas
Tufts University Art Gallery (Medford, MA)
2017
Detrás del Portón Rojo: una visión de la erótica en el arte costarricense
Museo de Arte Costarricense
(San José, Costa Rica)
Biomythography: Currency Exchange
California Lutheran University
(Thousand Oaks, CA)
Possible Worlds, Unseen Worlds | Virtual Space
15th Annual Regent Park Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)
I AM ERICA
The New Wight Gallery/UCLA
(Los Angeles, CA)
Mutate
PST: LA/LA. Monte Vista Projects
(Los Angeles, CA)
9/11 – 11/9
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo
(San José, Costa Rica)
A Decolonial Atlas: Strategies in Contemporary Art of the Americas
Vincent Price Art Museum
(Monterrey Park, CA)
Un Reino De Las Horas/ A Kingdom of Hours
TEOR/éTica, (San José, Costa Rica)
Stand Your Position FAR BAZAAR
(Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA)
2016
No One Belongs Here More Than You
Despacio (San José, Costa Rica)
Lo Escrito, Escrito Está
TEOR/éTica (San José, Costa Rica)
Todas Las Vidas
Bienal Centroamericana
(Puerto Limón, Costa Rica)
Biomythography: Currency Exchange
Claremont Graduate University
(Claremont, CA)
Mined Control
As It Stands (Pasadena, CA)
Inquieta Imagen 15
Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (San José, Costa Rica)
2015
Biomythography: Currency
Eastside International (Los Angeles, CA)
Recent Video from Latin America
The Getty Center (Los Angeles, CA)
SINERGIA: Apropiaciones/Colaboraciones
TEOR/éTica (San José, Costa Rica)
Recuerda Mi Nombre
Terminal (San José, Costa Rica)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE, WORKSHOPS
2020 - present
OCAD University: Faculty of Design, Faculty of Art and Graduates Studies
Assistant Professor (Toronto, Canada)
2021
UC Santa Barbara: Art Department Visiting Artist Series
Studio Visits (Santa Bárbara, California)
Nia Centre for the Arts: Left of Centre (Toronto, Canada)
Art facilitator, reviewed portfolio and conceptualized artistic ideas and notions
2019
Ryerson Image Centre: Youth in Focus in Collaboration with Nia
Centre for the Arts –
Photography Workshop (Toronto,
Canada)
Art facilitator, reviewed portfolio and conceptualized artistic ideas and notions
2016
Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC) – Comic and Narrative Lab (fanzine and digital GIF Workshop), (San José, Costa Rica)
Art facilitator, approached play and experimentation in digital animation by taking contemporary art as a starting point. Addressed issues such as race, identity, representation, stereotypes, and multiculturalism.
2013 - 2015
National Center for Special Education Fernando Centeno Güell School – Proposal of Teaching Technique (Pictogram) for the Learning of Mini Basketball and the Improvement of the Quality of Life of Children with Hearing Impairment (Goicoechea, Costa Rica)
Designer for Health and Basketball Instructor, developed and implemented a visual teaching technique for hearing-impaired students through pictograms. Promote the social integration of children with hearing impairment through play and provided access to sports practice, favoring the improvement of human development and quality of life, of the population with auditory sensory limitations.
2010
Guararí School – Training Project and Silkscreen Workshop Guararí 2010 (Heredia, Costa Rica)
Inclusive Designer and Art Facilitator, created and implemented an Integral Intervention Model for the training and implementation of a silkscreen printing shop for the adolescents of the at-risk community of Guararí, based on visual communication and the promotion of positive lifestyles. Provided and promoted the development of technical skills and economic empowerment.
2005 - 2006
Instituto Latinoamericano de Psicología y Pedagogía Alternativa
(ILPPA) – Director of the Health and Human Movement, and
Recreation Department
(Santa Ana, Costa Rica)
Physical Education and Health and Recreation facilitator, created, developed, and implemented programs in sports, fitness, recreation, and wellbeing for the student community.
2005
Itskatzú Educational Center – Director of the Health and Human Movement, and Recreation Department (San Rafael de Escazú, Costa Rica)
Physical Education and Health and Recreation facilitator, created, developed, and implemented programs in sports, fitness, recreation, and wellbeing for the student community.
ARTIST TALKS, SYMPOSIUMS
2021
Tufts University Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora: Black Latinidad –
Guest Artist Talk
TEOR/éTica and Fresh Milk: Transoceanic Visual Exchange.
Speaker
UC Santa Barbara: Art Department Visiting Artist Series
Guest Artist Talk
VIII Congreso Centroaméricano De Estudios Culturales: Vulcanoamérica Resi’stencias, Fisuras, Escapes –
“Conversatorio entre Diana Senior y Marton Robinson”
South Central InnerVisions: An AfroLatinx-Futurism Memory, Resistance and Power
Artist/facilitator Marton Robinson and scholar/curator Valorie D. Thomas in conversation.
Selejan, I (Host). (2021, June 14). Foregrounding Central American Contemporary Art. In University of the Arts London: Decolonising Arts Institute Podcast
Guest Artist
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA): Simposio Virtual Anual Trans-Territorial Resistance in the isthmus and the diaspora
Guest Artist Talk
California State University, San Bernardino: Department of Art & Design, Art History & Global Cultures
Guest Artist Talk
MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams, MA: “A Tourist In Your Own Home”
Artist Talk
California State University, San Bernardino: Department of Art & Design, Art History & Global CulturesCalifornia State University, San Bernardino: Department of Art & Design, Art History & Global Cultures
Guest Artist Talk
MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams, MA: “A Tourist In Your Own Home”
Artist Talk
2020
California State University Northridge The Department of Central American and Transborder Studies: Movement as Survival: Afro-Caribbean Migrant Identities
Speaker
Museos del Banco Central de Costa Rica: Reimaginar La Comunidad.
Artist Talk
11:11 ACC: OBSERVER/ED: An investigation into surveillance: Government Surveillance: Layers of watching, profiling and race.
Speaker
Primera Trienal Internacional de Performance DEFORMES, Santiago de Chile: Performance without Body
Speaker
The Fountainhead Residency: The role Artists play in shifting ideas around immigration.
Speaker, investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
Institute of Contemporary Art Miami: Young Artist Initiative Program
Speaker, investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
Center for Afrofuturist Studies: Afro Hemispheric Performance Experimental Pedagogy + Curatorial Online Digital Workshop (Online)
Speaker, investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
LL Proyectos; Sopa de Piedra: Rondón...just throw the pat and run it down(Online)
Artist Talk and Presentation of portfolio, and investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
University of California, Davis: Cinema and Media Program (Online)
Visiting Artist Talk and Studio Visit in Web Development and Portfolio Design
Voces en Acción: Voces en Acción (Online) with Donna Colon and Jonathan Harker
Visiting Artist Talk and Presentation of portfolio, and investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
Texas Tech University; Public Programming: Simulation (Online)
Speaker investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
2019
Ryerson Image Centre: Youth in Focus (Toronto, Canada) in Collaboration with Nia Centre for the Arts –
Artist Talk and Presentation of portfolio, and investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
ConverSalón: Marton Robinson (Toronto, Canada)
Artist Talk and Presentation of portfolio, and investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
Museo Amparo: Africamericanos (Puebla, México)
Artist Talk and guided visit of the exhibition.
2018
Centro de la Imagen (Cuidad de México) Encuentro Afrovisiones en América Latina
Artist Talk and guided visit of the exhibition
Pleasure Dome: Migration Crisis (Toronto, Canada), Co-Presented by aluCine Latin Film & Media Arts Festival, Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC), and Charles Street Video – in collaboration with Marcela Araya and soJin Chun.
This multi-channel video screening and talk brought to light the crisis in Central America as Nicaragua’s political turmoil, which began in April 2018, is forcing many to flee to Costa Rica. This presentation included the visual material that has been created by the people in Nicaragua to portray what they are currently living.
Art, Materiality and Representation Symposium, Clore Centre, British Museum (London, United Kingdom)
Presentation of portfolio, and investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
California African American Museum (CAAM): RACE/d: A Journal for You, (Los Angeles, CA)
Presentation of portfolio, and investigation research Tecnologías Deculoniales.
2017
Renewal Symposium, The Media Arts Network of Ontario (Toronto, Canada)
Speculative Futures of Races Symposium, California State Univ. (Northridge, CA)
A Decolonial Atlas & Yreina D. Cervantez: Closing Program, Vincent Price Art Museum (Monterrey Park, CA)
2016
CAPACETE: Archivos De Resistencia Panel
Presentation of portfolio, artist talk. (Río de Janeiro, Brazil)
Conversatorio, TEOR/éTica: Alter Academia (San José, Costa Rica)
Visita Guiada + Conversatorio - Lo Escrito, Escrito Está, TEOR/éTica (San José, Costa Rica)
2015
Biomythography: Currency Artist Panel Discussion, Eastside International (LA, CA)
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
Tompkins Rivas, Pilar, ed. Latinx: Aperture 245
December 7, 2021.
Eyebeam. The Democracy Machine: Artists and Self-governance in the Digital Age
Fractal Fellowships: Phase 1, 28 October 2021.
Dafoe, Taylor. “How Can Nonprofits Better Serve Artists? with a New $1.5 Million Program, Eyebeam Is Turning over the Purse Strings to Its Fellows.”
Artnet News. Artnet News, October 27, 2021.
Saénz Shelby, G. y Vindas Solano, S. Universidad Rafael Landívar VIII Congreso Centroaméricano De Estudios Culturales: Vulcanoamérica Resistencias, Fisuras, Escapes.
“The body as memory and resistance in the artistic work of Marton Robinson”, 2021.
Grinberg Pla, V. Universidad Rafael Landívar VIII Congreso Centroaméricano De Estudios Culturales: Vulcanoamérica Resistencias, Fisuras, Escapes.
Who is an artist, who is Tico, who is human?, 2021.
Lopéz, P. CENTROAMÉRICA EN ACCIÓN.
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, 2021.
Moreno, Alberto y Ibarra, Samuel. Encerrar y Vigilar: Escritura bajo amenaza. Libro Antólogico.
Marciano Ediciones, 2020.
Shana Nys Dambrot, Protest, Politics, and Pandemic:
L.A. Weekly Arts Year in Review. Dec 29, 2020.
Dávila, Arlene. “Latinx Art: Artists, Markets, and Politics.”
Duke University Press. 2020.
Saénz Shelby, Gabriela y Vindas Solano, Sofía. Horizonte Espinoso.
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, 2021.
Moreno, Alberto y Ibarra, Samuel. Encerrar y Vigilar: Escritura bajo amenaza.
Libro Antólogico. Marciano Ediciones.2020
Shana Nys Dambrot, Protest, Politics, and Pandemic:
L.A. Weekly Arts Year in Review. Dec 29, 2020.
Anuradha Vikram, “Virtual Eyes: Art Criticism in the Online Gallery,”
March, Issue 1, December 2020.
Nys Dambrot, Shana. “Fallen Monuments – EPOCH.” The Democracy Issue: What does Art mean now?
Published September 8, 2020.
Baca, April. “Art Review: Fallen Monuments Offers Mediated Landscapes and Virtual Futures.”
LAWeekly. Published August 17, 2020.
TEOR/éTica. Buchaca Generosa – ED.08. “500 Palabras ¿Qué MADC Queremos e Imaginamos?”
500 Palabras, 13 July 2020.
ART AFRICA / Digital Edition / ISSUE 19
Calameo.com, July 2020. 220 – 229. en.calameo.com/artafrica/
Tzul Tzul, Gladys, et al. 21st Contemporary Art Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil Exhibition Catalogue. Sesc_Videobrasil editorial. 2019.
VV.AA Africamericanos Exhbition Catalogue. Editorial_rm. 2019.
Quirós, Luis Fernando. “No hay más que un nombre” Pliegues (in)ciertos en el acontecer del istmo,” Árbol de Miradas. Published August 26, 2019.
Rebollar, Jessie transcriber. “Marton Robinson rompe con paradigmas de raza y género” AAVI. Published Nov 6 2018.
Royal Anthropological Institute et al. British Museum and SOAS: Art, Materiality and Representation Conference Programme and Book of Abstracts. 1 – 3 June 2018.
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo. 9/11 – 11/9 Catalogue of collective works presented at MADC. Published on Nov 7, 2018.
“Trapos Sucios (El día en que Marton Robinson y Huba Watsons se conocieron).” Súper Legítimo v2: Bitácora de la escena 2015. 2015.
Vences, A. J. “Marton Robinson: Rectifying History Through The
Assertion of Black Labor.”
28 July 2017.
Díaz, D. “La apuesta joven del Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo.” La Nación. May 2017.
Santos, JJ. “Un Reino De Las Horas.” ArtNexus. March 2017.109-111.
Arriola, A. Ojos Táctiles, Ojos Blandos, Tercer Ojo: Una Mirada Compuesta a La X Bienal Centroamericana. Editorial Concreta. 14 Dec 2016.
Leckie, R, López, MA. “Un Reino De Las Horas.” Artishock Revista. 7 Nov 2016.
Johnson, JB. “Biomythography: Currency Exchange Opens at Claremont.” Art And Cake. 9 Sept 2016.
Miranda, C. “Why you need to see the Getty’s collection of video art from Latin America.” Los Angeles Times. 2015.
Muñoz Solano, D. “Racismo: Del Insulto Grosero, a La Agresión Políticamente Correcta.” Semanario Universidad. 10 Feb 2015.
Isenberg, R. “TEOR/éTica Revisits Ugly Politics in ‘Chronicle of Interventions’”. The Tico Times. 5 Nov 2014.
Bolaños Acuña, D. “El Desengaño Tico de Cocorí.” La Nación. 2 Nov 2014.