sofia

LIME (board culture magazine)

2009-07-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

NEW! press from the Czech Republic.

Thanks to Bara, Priscilla, Andres, and SpaceJunk.

SOFIA's BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

2009-07-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

This was a really fun nite!!! Thanks to everybody, specially to my dad for that delicious cake. For more pictures of E.A Flow, friends, and my live painting (collaborations by SON, ACTY and PUN18), visit Pedro Feria BLOG.

The Trapaga's

2009-07-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

So most of you wonder why the f*ck I stayed in Puerto Rico for so long. I hope it was only for the beach... hahaha!!! but we were busy working on a mural commission at the Trapaga's house.

Photos by Priscilla Vazquez

PHOTOS BY PEDRO FERIA

2009-07-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Visit pedroferiafoto.blogspot.com to see this dope photo-shoot @ El Batey (dive-bar in PR)

!!!SABOTAGE!!!

2009-07-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

HEY!!! Aqui para los que se perdieron mi serie de gatas (cercano a La Respuesta) en Santurce. Estos muros los trabaje de noche, mientras por el dia hacia presencia en CIRCA.

Ya no quedan ni rastro de estas chicas posiblemente debido a su material "tan explicito"... hasta la proxima!

SOFIA's BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

2009-07-06T07:30:00.001-07:00

SOFIA’s Birthday Party! LIVE PAINTING!!!

Jueves, JULIO 16 @ 9 PM FREE!!!

CAFE SEDA (157 calle San Sebastian Viejo San Juan)

MUSIC: E.A FLOW c/ La Banda Lubricante + DJ Over Lord + DJ BEZ

Featuring photographers: Pedro Feria & Priscila Vazquez

Real Public (project info + press)

2009-06-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

REAL PUBLIC:

Real Art Ways has commissioned four new works of public art, each created specifically for Hartford, that make use of the existing creativity, vibrancy, and culture of Hartford's Parkville and Frog Hollow neighborhoods. The projects will be open through the summer.

Sofia Maldonado's mural, on the Pelican Tattoo building in Frog Hollow, blends elements of female aesthetics and street cultures. Maldonado worked with two interns to create the project, including a neighborhood teenager from Mi Casa, a Parkville youth organization. Maldonado was born in Puerto Rico. Now working and living in Brooklyn, her artwork is a blend of fashion trends, the Latina female aesthetic and various street culture elements.

PRESS:

E- FLUX

Hartford Courant Editorial

Yankee Magazine Article

NEW YORK MAGAZINE

2009-06-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

Anarcho-Muralist

Published May 31, 2009

Twenty-four-year-old artist Sofia Maldonado makes large-scale murals and recently painted a skateboard park in Havana. But don’t call her a graffiti artist.

(Photo: Jake Chessum)

n weekends in high school I would go around Puerto Rico and paint female characters and organic forms on random walls. I like the textures of buildings as they deteriorate. I did a mural 177 feet long in Old San Juan, and an abandoned pool in the rain forest in Rio Grande that we turned into a skateboard park. It’s not graffiti: I never use a can. Always a brush.

I love the skateboarding scene—it’s a really refreshing, anarchist sport. For the Havana Biennial, I painted a park and gave away 40 skateboards. I’ve painted some rooftop ramps here since I’ve moved to New York, but they don’t last too long before they’re painted over. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of permission, to paint in the streets here.

The recession doesn’t affect young artists as much. Except that all this high-class lifestyle that art students wanted to achieve has come down to a realistic level. You’re going to be an artist, but you’re not going to have an artist loft in Soho. It’s time to get a little more real.

Maldonado’s most recent mural, for Real Art Way, was just completed above a tattoo shop in Hartford, Connecticut.

As told to Alexandra Peers.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (video)

2009-06-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

Cuba's Skateboard Scene Has Scrappy Charm

6/4/2009 by Kelly Crow.

In contrast to America's glitzy and over-marketed skateboarding scene, the young skaters in Cuba embrace a do-it-yourself, scrappy aesthetic. Kelly Crow reports from Havana, Cuba.

SKATE MY PATRIA

2009-06-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Skate My Patria

Skate My Patria a humanitarian artist project hopes that the American/European skater community would be willing to donate new and/or used skateboarding equipment to help the skater community in Cuba. This project took place in March 2009 during the 10th Havana Biennial, Cuba. (by Sofia Maldonado)

For more information visit the blog: skatemypatria.blogspot.com

Press @ COOL HUNTING! Title: Sofia Maldonado: Skate My Patria

Real Public (Hartford, CT)

2009-06-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

For more information on this project visit REAL ART WAYS

CIRCA 2009

2009-06-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

For this event I decided to dress with high-couture dresses, to mimic the female characters of my artwork. Dress were designed by Namibia Viera, in Puerto Rico.

Recent paintings at Circa International Art Fair

SKATE JAM/BBQ

2009-02-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

This last Christmas vacation I went down to Puerto Rico... got to admit that life, skateboarding and graffiti have made me a taught girl. Even thou my vacations were not exactly as I planed I stick to my plan of doing the Skate Jam at the Tropical Storm Bowl, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. This is something I have been dreaming of since summer 2008.

It was a low-budget idea, we did a web-flyer which MadRican and Playwood Media help me to post in Facebook and Myspace. There were no directions to get to the bowl in the flyer. You had to ask a friend how to get there or just figure it out...

Wow! We got like 50 kids, skaters, friends, neighbors, a "phsyca", and very few girls. Yep! I was surprise everybody made it. We had a hell of a day! I made hot dogs for everybody... my BBQ skills are kinda crazy, but I did my best.

Early in the afternoon, thet boyz cleaning the dirty and full of plants bowl.

Yeah!... Huck rippin' it out!

Yariel!

Robert.

The BBQ spot.

A friend, Giancarlos, Michelle, and me.

Em' I the only girl?... hahaha! like always.

Visit AX PHOTOGRAPHY for more photos.

EL PUENTE DE LA PLACITA

2009-01-21T20:24:00.000-08:00

My latest mural in Puerto Rico with PUN18
near La Placita del Mercado, San Juan.

Just the start... Sofia (left) and PUN18 (right).

Scrachaera Tour

2009-01-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

Mural by PUN18, SOFIA, RIMX, XEL @ Skate Park, Rincon, PR.

Part of our "scrachaera" vacations tour after Dwek's drum&bass party in Isabela.

5 POINTZ, NYC

2008-11-20T22:47:00.001-08:00

Younity @ Alphabeta, Greenpoint (NY)

2008-11-20T22:07:00.000-08:00

Toofly & AM.

AM.

Niz, Diva, Lady Pink.

Lady Pink & Erotica.

Erotica & Sofia.

Sofia (detail).

YOUNITY's Heart & Soul Exhibition and Book Launch

October 17, 2008

We are excited to announce the second annual YOUNITY art exhibition entitled Heart & Soul opening on October 17th, 2008 at Alphabeta in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. As a celebratory theme between 60 international women artists and what they identify as "heart and soul," the exhibit promises an urban landscape installation piece that unifies and pushes the boundaries of graffiti, photography, urban contemporary art and fine art. In addition, YOUNITY will release Heart & Soul, a book featuring works from all 60 artists including:

Lady Pink, Martha Cooper, Swoon, EROTICA, Lichiban , GMO$, Diana McClure, and YOUNITY FOUNDERS Toofly and Alice Mizrachi, all representing NYC, as well as, MAD C ( Germany ), Paulina Quintana Jornet (Germany/Argentina), Aiko Nakagawa ( Japan ), Shiro (Japan), Faith47 ( South Africa ), Krista Franklin ( Chicago ), Sofia Maldonado (Puerto Rico), and Lisa Thalhammer (DC), to name a few...

The HEART & SOUL exhibition will showcase original artwork by current YOUNITY members as part of an indoor/outdoor site specific installation .

Enjoy the video of the mural process here: http://theyounity.wordpress.com/

Girl @ SubstaceSkateboard House, NY

2008-11-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Mural at the Substance crib in Bushwick... the boys made me do it! hahaha!

SAGRADO "RAIL"

2008-11-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

This piece title, "A ver si bajas el rail de Sagrado",was part of EN SUS MARCAS, collective contemporary painting exhibition in University Sagrado Corazon, located in Santurce, Puerto Rico.

Graphopoli 2008

2008-08-27T19:13:00.001-07:00

La Torre, building near the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. This mural was part of Graphopoli, a proyect by the Mueso de Arte de Puerto Rico.

Photo by Braulio Espinosa.

The process of The Bowl

2008-08-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you here intrested... I post some photos of the creative process on the making of The Bowl. On April 2008 I traveled to Puerto Rico (mi isla) to transform a dumped pool near the rainforest into a skate bowl. With the collaboration of Playwood Media, skateboarding video crew, and local skaters (Samyr, Yariel, Norbert, Boligoma, Huck, Pelu, Alexis, Kidell, Lengy, Fernie, MadRican and others) we clean and paint the site in 5 days.

The first day we took off all the plants and dirt off the pool. The second day the pool got flooded because of a tropical storm, so my friends help me to get the water out. By the third and forth day I painted a design on the bowl's floor. On the fifth day I finished the painting installation and we were able to ride. That day Robert Lopez, local skaters and the Misiles de Racimo Crew went to skate the bowl.

This project invades with color abandoned spots that can be skate. Thur the re-construction and use of abandoned urban spaces I pretend to establish a dialog between my artwork and the skater culture. At the moment we finish The Tropical Storm video that include the cleaning and painting process of the Bowl, combined with a skate sessions. I will upload some of it soon!!!

Mr. Mark Gonzalez

2008-08-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yo! This is so ill!!! One of my favorite artist and skater in top of some
ramps I painted at the New Design School, Lower East Side, NY.

For more info on my skate projects visit Skatebook.tv.

Big thanks to Paula Hewitt and Billy Rohan from Open Road for the pictures. And to RIMX for the character.

The Tropical Storm @ Maganan Projects, NYC

2008-08-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

Fascinated by the multi-layered aspects of skateboarding culture, she developed The Tropical Storm Series after moving to New York. This series is divided into three major projects: the Broken Boards, the Bowl, and the Skate Bags. This exhibition opens up a dialog on the use of abandoned objects and spaces. It also explores disregarded aspects of the skateboarding culture.

Skater @ opening nite Robert Lopez. (Special thanks to Dustin and Adrian from RockStar Bearings for the ramp!)

The Broken Boards is a series of installations using found dilapidated skateboard decks. These decks remind her of the remains found after the devastation of hurricanes in the Caribbean. This project creates an aesthetic correlation between broken decks and materials that are residues of disaster.

The Bowl consists of the transformation of an abandoned swimming pool in the rainforest into a skate bowl. Like Sofia’s murals, skaters invade and bring new life to abandoned spaces. Through this project she generates a dialog about the revitalization of neglected sites.

The Skate Bags consist of limited edition hand-made gear that brings an element of femininity to the industry. They work to produce a new canon within the skater culture. They are stylized conceptions for the working woman that uses the skateboard as a means of transportation.

This exhibition compiles a diverse body of work establishing a dialog between Sofia’s artwork and the use of space and objects in society today. For more information visit Magnan Projects, NY.

The Bowl

2008-08-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Bowl, from the Tropical Storm Series, consists of the transformation of an abandoned swimming pool in the rainforest into a skate bowl. Like my murals, skaters invade and bring new life to abandoned spaces. Through this project I generates a dialog about the revitalization of neglected sites.
Photo: Adres Mora / Skater: Robert Lopez / Site: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Read the article that CultureServe.net did of this project, Flavor: Skatebowl, Puerto Rico. And the shooting that Alfred Ruiz did with the Misiles de Racimos Crew at their skate tour for the video.

miSTUDIO

2006-12-12T01:18:00.000-08:00

This year I started my MFA @ Pratt Institute, NY. This are some pics of my studio at school.

...mi sk8... uf! que cura una Caballero.

ART BASELmiami

2006-12-12T00:36:00.000-08:00

"FIA" made a collaboration with EXIT for the booth of Magnan-Emrich Projects (NY) at Scoope, Miami.

(aprox. 9 ft tall)

... abuelita Tina y tia Tini @ Scoope!
Gracias a tia Tere y David por las fotografías.

NYciudad

2006-12-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

Here some of the things I've been paseting up in the city. For those that forgot that this country still in war, and many people are dying day by day. Also my friend Tomomi is recording everything in video tape... so we will put some of that footage online soon!

Aqui para todos aquellos que se preguntan que es de mi vida por los nuevayores. Algunas fotos de pasquines que he pegado por la ciudad. Con la idea de crear conciencia, ya que la gente vive aqui como si no estuviese pasando nada fuera del pais.

... my mother died because of your US Bomb.

... your country is in war... while you sleep they shoot. (11 Spring st.)

last trip to Puerto Rico

2006-12-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

Algunas fotos de mi ultimo viaje a Puerto Rico. Fui a bombardear con Rimx y Son para el video de Marcado. (some pics from my last boming in the island of my dreams!)

dame pon pa' la 15. jajaja!!! esto es para toda las gargolas que habitan por la zona.

6.5%? ...y el gobierno de manos cruza!

... la ciudad sin aceras.

tributo a los Pepinilloz! una banda a la cual admiro y le tengo cariño.