Melanie Pereira Alves
is a visual artist living in San Francisco, CA.
Alves was born in December 1983 San Jose, California (USA) but raised in Portugal.
On her recent work- Urban Jungle- Alves has been using animal masks to describe the diverse layers we use daily to survive in this Society and how this constant personality adaptations to the exterior encounters is consuming us, distancing ourselves more and more from our true Self. Her work also explores the relation between animal instinct and our deepest inner self, viewed per the artist as our Essence.
Education:
2001/06
Five years 1st Degree in Fine Arts (equivalent to Master Degree), at “Faculdade de Belas-Artes”, Porto University , Portugal.
2005/06
International university student exchange(freemover) with the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (E.N.S.B.A.) of Paris.
Attended Master Class in Christian Boltanski Atelier, in E.N.S.B.A., Paris.
2004/05
Merit Scholarship Winner 2004/2005 in Porto University “FBAUP”, Portugal. ”Erasmus” Student exchange of my 4th year of Fine Arts, in École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (E.N.S.B.A) de Bordeaux, in France.
Inspired by daily experiences and by the global news, Alves´s work touches political and cultural issues such as globalization and society paradoxes.
Even though the art of Francis Bacon will always be what ignited her artistic pursuit, Alves has been mainly influenced by the interaction of Installation Art, the motion of Vídeo Art and the marginality of Street Art. Some of her favorite artists are Christian Boltanski, Louise Bourgeois, Marina Abramovic, Mathew Barney, Bill Viola and Banksy.
Since moving, on October 2011, from London UK, Melanie Alves decided to focus entirely on her Art, participating in various shows around town, including Wonderland SF, One Mama event at 111 Minna, Spacecraft Gallery, and recently a 472Gallery and Dstructure solo shows.