The modern Olympic Games in its early beginnings considered the highest state of man, or the ideal of man, to be well versed in body and mind. As a result of this, from 1912 - 1952 art was considered an Olympic practice. Medals were awarded to artists just as they are to athletes [...] I would like to think that [artists and atheletes] share an element of purity. They are pure in the sense that he who is an athlete and he who is an artist has a highly intrinsic motivation for practicing their discipline, and that because of this element the product of their efforts embody expression. They also have a comparable way of working towards their goals, the artist works to achieve a harmonious manipulation of medium through research and experimentation, as does the athlete aim to achieve a harmonious manipulation of his body through training. Artist and athlete require discipline and knowledge of technique, but this can only take them so far; from there, the ability to respond and improvise to situations as they appear is essential and conducive to new knowledge. This ability for improvisation and controlled spontaneity comes as a result of preparation.
- Magdalena Paz, “The Potential of Art in Enriching our Experiences and Deepening our Level of Understanding in Disciplines Other than the Arts," 2017
About
Magdalena Paz was born in Santiago, Chile in 1990, but had a multi-cultural upbringing. She is an interdisciplinary artist and soccer player. Her drawings, acrylic paintings, and sculptures are inspired by her constant displacement growing-up and her athletic practice. For her, the artist and athlete have similar callings: “the artist works to achieve a harmonious manipulation of medium through research and experimentation, as the athlete aims to achieve a harmonious manipulation of their body through training.” Her paintings, acts of practice and game, use soccer as a universal language to express ideas on awareness, memory, and identity. Like sport, painting is a highly physical and mental process—she doesn’t paint on canvas larger than her own height- and she carries the virtues of both disciplines on-and-off the soccer field and to-and-from the canvas, celebrating the process as the ultimate end goal.
In the United States, she received her B.F.A. as a transfer student from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA in 2012. Between schools, she received sculpture and portraiture training from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago, Chile. Upon moving to Germany in 2013, she studied Illustration. Her thesis, “The Potential of Art in Enriching our
Experiences and Deepening our Level of Understanding in Disciplines Other than the Arts” was awarded an honorable mention and still influences her work today. She has shown widely in solo and group exhibitions in six different countries and innovative spaces: Tschutti Heftli Sammelalbum, a series of Czech Republic national soccer player portraits was exhibited inside a former swimming pool (Neubad Luzern, Switzerland); Empty Landscapes, a series of de-peopled soccer field paintings was exhibited in a former
distillery (Berlin, Germany); and Upgrading Maria, was exhibited in a place of worship, an Evangelist Church (Stephanuskirche, Berlin, Germany) to protest the idealized woman and poke satire at the Madonna. She currently lives and works in her studio in Berlin, Germany.
text by
ROMI STUDIO
Magdalena Paz
1990—
Born in Santiago, Chile
The artist lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Education
2017—
Received B.F.A. in Illustration from Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule (Berlin
Technical Art Academy)
2012—
Received B.F.A. in Fashion from The Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA
Transferred from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York
2010—
Received Fine Art Diploma in Stone Sculpture & Portraiture from Pontificia Universidad
Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022—
The Other Art Fair — Independent Booth, London, England
2019—
Avo Brothers (2nd location), solo and permanent exhibition of 6 paintings, Milan, Italy
2018—
Mareo de Libertad (Freiheitsschwindel), Kapelle am Urban, Berlin, Germany
Avo Brothers (1st location), solo and permanent exhibition of 5 paintings, Milan, Italy
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023—
WERY WOR!, hosted by ExGirlfriend Gallery & HER Studios, Berlin, Germany
2022—
Editions, curated by Elena Feijoo, ExGirlfriend Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Nice to See You Open Studio, HER Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
BAAM #4, Monopol, Berlin, Germany
BAAM #3, Monopol, Berlin, Germany
2021—
BAAM #2, Monopol, Berlin, Germany
Revolver, Monopol, Berlin, Germany
Chilean Festival of Art, Chilean Conexión at Monopol, Berlin, Germany
Upgrading Maria, curated by Igor Zaidel, Stephanuskirche (Church), Berlin, Germany
2020—
FINE ART KIOSK, Palazzo Anticrisi, Berlin, Germany
Revolver, KSTN Projektraum, Berlin, Germany
2019—
La Bomba Festival, an occasion of live mural painting, Marie-Antoinette, Berlin,
Germany
Chilean Festival of Art, Chilean Conexión at Monopol, Berlin, Germany
2018—
El Art Show de los Garabatos, Casa Tiber 59, Mexico City, Mexico
Noches de Arte, White Page Art Happenings, Mexico City, Mexico
Celeste, Galeria Fauna, Santiago, Chile
2017—
Radiian-T, Galpon 9, Santiago, Chile
Kaleidoscope, Kühlhaus Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2016—
Boesner Mural, in collaboration with Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule (Berlin
Technical Art Academy), Berlin, Germany
The Beautiful Game: The Poetics and Aesthetics of Soccer in Transnational Perspective
Didi Offensiv, Basel, Switzerland
Tschutti Hefli Die Originalen, Galerie Tabak, Zurich, Switzerland
Tschutti Heftli Sammelalbum, Neubad Luzern, Switzerland
Fummeto the International Comic Festival, Luzern, Switzerland
Tschutti Heftli- die Austellung, speaker at the 11mm Football Film Festival, City Cinema
Wedding, Berlin, Germany
2014—
Berlino Fontamara, Municipio di Pescina, Pescina, Italy
2013—
Graffiti Life, a mural sponsored by Bank of America, Marlboro Park. London, England
2011—
Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
2008—
Noche de Arte, International Association of Chile at the Sheraton, Santiago, Chile
Nido de Aguilas, an IB Art Exhibition, Santiago, Chile
Professional Experience & Membership
2017—
Thomas Leo Chapman, Artist Assistant, Berlin, Germany
2016—
Sleek Magazine, Editorial Assistant, Berlin, Germany
Cristobal Schmal Illustration, Intern, Berlin, Germany
2013—
Victoria & Albert Museum, CreateVoice Member, London, England
Awards
Honorable Thesis Award, 2017, Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule (Berlin Technical
Art Academy)
Press, Artist Books, and Publications
Soare, Stanca, “Upgrading Maria 2021. Expoziția colectivă din catedrala fără frontiere
(upgrading maria 2021. collective exhibition in the cathedral without borders,” ArTeVezi,
July, 26, 2021. https://artevezi.com/upgrading-maria-2021-expozitia-colectiva-din-
catedrala-fara-frontiere/
Kilian, Thomas, “Maria und andere weibliche Vorbilder in den abrahamischen Religionen
(Mary and Other Female Models in the Abrahamic Religions),” Soldiner Kiez, October 11,
2021. https://soldinerkiezverein.de/2021/10/11/maria-und-andere-weibliche-vorbilder-in-
den-abrahamischen-religionen/
Kilian, Thomas, “Upgrading Maria 2021: Ein Sommerevent der besonderen Art
(Upgrading Maria 2021: A special kind of summer event),” Soldiner Kiez, June 30, 2021.
https://soldinerkiezverein.de/2021/06/30/upgrading-maria-ein-sommerevent-der-
besonderen-art/
Millennial Cafés [@millennialcafes], “Avo Brothers was born from the combined vision of
five friends...” [photo image of Magdalena Paz’s “AVOGUE” illustration], Instagram, May
12, 2020. https://www.instagram.com/millennialcafes/?next=%2F
Torres Mandiola, Magdalena Paz, “The Potential of Art in Enriching Our Experiences and
Deepening Our Level of Understanding in Disciplines other Than the Art,” Batchelor
Thesis presented at the Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule, January 2017.
Waladis, Samuel, “15 Minuten für Janko und Pommes im Schnabel der Möwen (Marek
Suchy – interpreted by Magdalena Torres [Chile]),” TagesWoche, August 4, 2016.
https://tageswoche.ch/allgemein/15-minuten-fuer-janko-und-pommes-im-schnabel-
der-moewen/index.html
“FASZINATION SAMMELBILDER (FASCINATING COLLECTIBLES),” International
Football Film Festival Berlin, March 30, 2016. https://www.11-
mm.de/index.php/en/neues/news/news-2016/item/813-faszination-sammelbildchen