Author Description

Vengo de una isla de confusión ( I Come From an Island of Confusion) is Elsa María Meléndez's first solo museum exhibition outside Puerto Rico. Born and based in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Meléndez's artistic career expands 26 years. She has exhibited in over 95 group exhibitions in the United States, Uruguay, Cuba, Ireland, Romania, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.Meléndez is a recipient of the 2023 Studios at MASS MoCA Puerto Rico Artist Fellows. She is a Commended artist and received the People's Choice Award at the 2022 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, National Portrait Gallery at Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. In 2019 she received the Flamboyán Artist Fellowship in partnership with NALAC, was nominated for the 2019 USA Fellowship, United States Artists, and received the Lexus Fellowship, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (2009).Meléndez's work is included in the contemporary art collections of the Rollins Museum of Art, Florida; Glendale Community College in California; Newcomb Art Museum at Tulane University, New Orleans; Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico; La Casa de Las Américas in Havana; Museo de Arte de Ponce; Ateneo Puertorriqueño; Lolita Rubial Foundation in Minas, Uruguay and, in the Museo de Arte de Caguas.