Arcenio Martin Campos

  detail

artist statement

As a child I drew the things that represented what I wanted to be; trucks to drive, jets and helicopters to fly. As a youth I began to draw people, especially girls – pretty girls I desired as much as I had desired trucks and jets in my early childhood. Drawing pretty girls I wanted to be with eventually evolved into drawing the human figure for the sake of fascination with what makes us people. The next thing I knew, I no longer needed to be a truck driver or a jet fighter; I was an artist – an artist who focused on the figure.

For nearly twenty years I studied the physical components of human beings – all of them; all componenets, all people, not just the pretty ones. Lately, all of these people I have been drawing, and many of their respective parts, have been stirring, growing restless. They are no longer content to simply be portrayed on paper, mylar, canvas or panel. They have urgent stories to tell. They strive to be part of a world.

This is a new development for me. It is at this moment that the thousands of loose body parts floating around inside my head are beginning to come together – not just as the completed figures I have been drawing for years – but as individual lives that are trying to complete themselves and come into existence.

EDUCATION
2002-07 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts - Certificate in Painting, 2007.
1998-2000 University of New Mexico - Major in art history, minor in studio arts.
1990-1992 New Mexico State University - Associates Degree, art history.
Independent Study - Research of academic drawing methods since 1990.

AWARDS
2007
Lance Roy Laufer Memorial Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Simone C. Titone Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
August Cook Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Earl T. Donelson Figure Painting Award - Second Prize, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
The Susan H. MacDowell Figure Painting Prize - Second Prize, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
Cuff/Sammak Prize for Abstract Painting, Special Notice, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
2006
Gamblin Paint Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Daniel Garber Prize for Excellence in Drawing, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Artists’ House Gallery Award,, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Franklin C. Watkins Memorial Grant, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Thouron Prizes, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
The Charles Toppan Prizes, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Earl T. Donelson Figure Painting Award - Second Prize, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
The Susan H. MacDowell Figure Painting Prize - Second Prize, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
Fred and Naomi Hazell Art Award, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2005
Mindel Caplan Kleinbard Award, Annual Spring Exhibition, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
Haney Foundation - Honorable Mention, Annual Spring Exhibition, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
Don Sabath Award - Honorable Mention, Annual Spring Exhibition, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
Huldah Bender Kerner Scholarship, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
James Bonnelli Jr. Memorial Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Michael G. Capuzzi Memorial Endowment, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2004
Don Sabath Award, Annual Spring Exhibition, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
Honorable Mention, Annual Works on Paper Exhibition, Phila Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
2003
Edna and Charles R. Weiner Prize, PAFA Certificate All Juried Show, Philadelphia, PA
2002
Second Prize, Annual Works on Paper Exhibition, Phila Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

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