The revelation of one's demons or disabilities is rare on such a deeply personal level in the contemporary art sphere as is demonstrated by the work of Miami-based artist Tina La Porta. Swathed in layers of resin, La Porta's work is an inversion of an inner life to an external community: a vast assortment of antipsychotic drugs used to treat her affliction with schizophrenia. Often presented in a demure, critically challenging format of calculated arrangements of tiny capsules across resin-coated canvases, La Porta's practice is, in and of itself, a catalyst for acceptance and awareness for herself and her audience. Rather than placing emphasis on the inherent darkness of mental illness, drug addiction and social interaction (which is convenient for many, but rarely if ever directly applicable to contemporary artists to initiate commentary). La Porta translates a highly misunderstood, popularly fascinating condition into an elegant aesthetic.
Tina La Porta was born in 1967 in Chicago. She received her BA from Columbia College in 1989 and her MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York in 1994. La Porta has shown works over nearly two decades between Paris, New York, Chicago, Istanbul, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London and São Paulo. Notable group exhibitions include 'Carcel de Amor: Violencia sin Cuerpos' (Prison of Love: Violence Without Bodies) at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte, Reina Sofia in Madrid in 2005, 'Web As Performance Space' at the ICA London in 2003, and 'techno. FETISH. ism' at The Open Museum Net.Art at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, 2003. La Porta's work has seen press coverage in the New York Times Art Review, the Village Voice and is included in Amelia Jones's The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader (Routledge), 2010. La Porta lives and works in Miami.

Robert Fontaine Gallery - 2349 NW 2nd Ave. Miami, Fl. 33127 - (305) 397.8530