The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection Sept. 2014 | Page 161

Velarde, Kukuli
American; (b. 1962, Cuzco, Peru; lives in Philadelphia, PA)
1992 BFA Hunter College, University of New York, NY
1985–1987 Continuing Education: printmaking, painting and sculpture.
Academia San Carlos, graduate program, University of Mexico.

Born in Cuzco, Peru, Kukuli Velarde studied printmaking, painting, and sculpture at

SELECTED REFERENCES:

Academia San Carlos at the University of Mexico from 1985 to 1987. Velarde migrated

Clark, Garth, and Cindi Strauss.

to the US the following year and completed her BFA in 1992 at Hunter College in New

Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary

York City. Around the completion of her undergraduate degree, Velarde’s artwork began

Ceramics: The Garth Clark & Mark

to take on a political tenor following the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’

Del Vecchio Collection. New Haven:
Yale University Press; Houston: The

arrival in the “New World.“ Her response was a series of ceramic babies called We, the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2012.

Colonized Ones (1990–1992). Velarde’s subsequent series, Isichapuitu Series (1997–2002),

Morgan, Robert Coolidge. “Kukuli

is a group of ceramic figures based on the pre-Columbian Huastecan (Mexico) tradition.

Velarde.” American Ceramics 15, no. 1

While originally seen as cántaros de muerte (vessels of death), the rounded figures serially
produced by Velarde using a press mold are re-imagined by the artist as transformative
vessels imbued with life. The forms are all female and each represents a different human

(2006): 54–75.
Thorson, Alice. “Vessels of Protest:
Peruvian Kukuli Velarde confronts
Racism with Striking Ceramics

need and narrative. Velarde’s most recent accolade includes the Grand Prize at the

based on Historical Works.”

Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale (GICB) in South Korea (2013). Additionally,

Kansas City Star, November 24, 2013.

the artist has received a Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant (2012), the Transformation

Velarde, Kukuli. “Resume.“

Award from the Leeway Foundation (2011), a PEW Fellowship in Visual Arts (2003), a Joan

Kukuli Velarde. Accessed April 14,

Mitchell Foundation Grant (1997), and the Bronx Council of the Arts Fellowship (1997).

2014. http://www.kukulivelarde.com/
site/Resume.html

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF KUKULI VELARDE WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION

Virgin Bride II, from
the series Isichapuitu

Yo Amamantando Amores,
from the series Isichapuitu

Vergüenza (Shame),
from the series Isichapuitu

Kukuli Velarde: Cántaros de

Kukuli Velarde: Cántaros de

Kukuli Velarde: Cántaros de

Vida (The Isichapuita Series).

Vida (The Isichapuita Series).

Vida (The Isichapuita Series).

Sheboygan: John Michael

Sheboygan: John Michael

Sheboygan: John Michael

Kohler Arts Center, 2002.

Kohler Arts Center, 2002.

Kohler Arts Center, 2002.

ALSO INCLUDED IN EXHIBITION

Amores que Matan
(Loves that Kill)
Sta Chingada: The Perfect
Little Woman, from
the series Cadavers

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