RAFAEL MORENO TAPIA
Rafael Moreno-Tapia Rivas
1972, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria SPAIN
Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Professional of the Plastic Arts that at the moment develops his labor activity as an Autonomous Professional based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He currently offers, from the Gallery that bears his name, an important range of own and external services, including the training of children and adults, the aspects of his own facet as a plastic creator, the development of activities related to the promotion of other artists and their exhibition both in his own exhibition space and in others inside and outside the archipelago.
On the one hand, his professional profile brings together his own knowledge as a Creator, Teacher, Assistant and Technical Specialist, all of them relevant aspects for the assumption of a wide variety of responsibilities in the heart of any cultural space.
His academic training was developed mainly within the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of La Laguna, complemented with a year's stay at the École de Beaux Arts in Toulouse, France (1993-1994). He was also the only Spaniard who was part of the exclusive group of young artists who managed to gain access to the Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp, to which he was linked from 1996 to 1998.
As a teacher he occupied, during five academic years, the position of Professor of Plastic and Visual Arts of Secondary Education in several schools on the island of Tenerife. Among all of them, his work at the Santa Rosa de Lima School (Madres Dominicas de Las Laguna) stands out, where he became the Director of the corresponding Department. At present his link with teaching is maintained, being linked to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Universities in recent years as an interim civil servant teacher having taught in several schools on the island of Gran Canaria.
Since the beginning of his final stage in his degree, he has turned to production as a plastic artist, becoming part of numerous exhibition projects on the island of Tenerife and Gran Canaria as a Canarian artist of the generation of the 90s. Likewise, his work has been recognized with several awards and prizes, among which stands out the Honorary Prize of the Regional Biennial of Plastic Arts of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2002. In the last decade his efforts have been focused on promoting his personal work outside the islands, attending regularly, when the pandemic situation was not a reality, to international events in Germany (ISPO, Art MUC and STROKE Art Fair, all of them in the city of Munich, Bavaria).
In 2006 he took up residence on the island of Gran Canaria, joining the Art Center La Regenta (Government of the Canary Islands) as a Technical Specialist in exhibition setups until 2011. Her profile is equally demanded in other Art Centers of the Canary Islands and as a result of this experience, she promotes the conversion of her own studio as a space of residence, dissemination, training and creation, today a consolidated bet of unofficial Cultural Management in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (www.galeriamt.es) where an important number of actions are promoted at different levels.
Thanks to his facet as a plastic creator and technical specialist in exhibition set-ups, his services have been required on different occasions to provide assistance to artists such as Jose Bedia, Johan Thom, Laura Gonzalez, among others.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
In 1990, after finishing his pre-university studies in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, he moved to Santa Cruz de Tenerife to pursue his higher studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of La Laguna.
In 1993 he was awarded an Erasmus Scholarship and moved to Toulouse (France) to complete the fourth year of his studies at the École de Beaux Arts in that city.
After finishing his studies, he returned to Santa Cruz de Tenerife where he finished his higher education in 1995, obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting.
In 1996 he was awarded one of the fourteen international places offered by the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp (Belgium), where he remained for a year, again with a scholarship under the Erasmus project, as a student of the Third Cycle (Doctorate).
After his European stay, he returned to the islands and settled in Tenerife until 2006, when he returned to the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
WORK EXPERIENCE
From 1996 to 1998 he worked with the group of graduates in Fine Arts "NE Creaciones" based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife carrying out, among others: rehabilitation works and creation of furniture, interior decoration and architecture projects, graphic design and decorative painting finishes (murals, mosaics and creations with his own style).
Collaborates with the AB57 Cooperative in the restoration of one of the 18th century altarpieces located in the Church of the Convent in Hermigua, La Gomera, 1998.
He teaches Plastic and Visual Arts at the Private School Rodríguez Alberto in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and at the Private School Acaymo-Candelaria in La Laguna, academic year 1999-2000; he also teaches at the Private School Santa Rosa de Lima (MM Dominicas, La Laguna) from 2000 to 2004, where he is also the Director of the corresponding Department.
Since 2006, as a result of taking up residence in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, he focuses his working life as a technician in events, assembly and disassembly of Art Exhibitions (Self-Employed), becoming part of the group of specialists of the Art Center La Regenta -dependent of the Vice-Ministry of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands-, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM) -dependent of the Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria-; He has also collaborated in exhibition projects developed in the Juan Ismael Art Center -depending on the Cabildo of Fuerteventura-, and in the exhibition spaces of the City Councils of San Mateo, Telde and Las Palmas, as well as private entities such as the Literary Cabinet, the Chamber of Commerce, Gran Canaria Espacio Digital and Casa África, as well as individuals.
In 2016 he returned to teaching as an interim teacher for the Department of Education, occupying a position until today as a teacher of Plastic Education in several schools on the island of Gran Canaria. His formative aspect is also developed professionally from his studio in the neighborhood of Alcaravaneras, where he promotes -since 2012- formative actions that also involve national and international artists through creative and research workshops, residencies and exhibitions.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Generation of plastic creations in different languages and through different media
Direction, coordination, technical assistance, multimedia follow-up and development of creative projects.
Organization and development of training activities for minors Organization and development of informative communications for adults
Specialized and specific assistance to Artists throughout the assembly process of a specific project.
Handling and packaging of works of art
Stowage, loading, transport and unloading of works of art
Assembly and disassembly of works of art in exhibition spaces
Standard installation of multimedia equipment for specific artistic events Technician for logistical assistance for events, conferences and courses Basic works of ephemeral and modular carpentry
Rehabilitation works of exhibition spaces
ARTISTIC PROJECTION
SCHOLARSHIPS
He was selected by the Erasmus Project to study the fourth year of the Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Toulouse (France), where he moved in 1993.
In 1995 he was selected by the Erasmus Project, within the Third University Cycle, to pursue post-graduate studies at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
AWARDS
Second Prize at the Regional Biennial of Plastic Arts of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 2002
Honorary Prize at the Regional Biennial of Plastic Arts of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, June 2004.
EXHIBITIONS
He is selected to participate with his work in the collective exhibition of students of Fine Arts in the Exhibition Hall of the College of Architects of the Canary Islands (COAC), in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1995.
Takes part in the group exhibition "Somethingonething" held at the Exhibition Hall of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp, 1996.
He is selected to be part of the exhibition "TELÚRICA SECRETA", second part of a global project of three exhibitions of Young Art in the Canary Islands that began with the exhibition "Figuraciones Indígenas", curated by the Architect and Artist Mr. Ernesto Valcárcel and sponsored by the Government of the Canary Islands was exhibited at the Sala de Arte La Regenta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes and Sala de Arte La Granja, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1998.
Together with Beatriz Cimadevilla and Lena Peñate he exhibits his most recent work in the exhibition entitled "25o", in July 1998, at the Exhibition Hall of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the El Tanque Cultural Center in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, he was invited to participate with his work in a group exhibition projected on the structure of the Center, October 1998.
His work is exhibited at the Regional Biennial of Plastic Arts of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the exhibition hall La Recova of the aforementioned city, during the months of July and August 2002.
His work is exhibited in the Regional Biennial of Plastic Arts of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the exhibition hall La Recova of the aforementioned city, during the months of July and August 2004.
His work was exhibited at the International Contemporary Art Fair (ARCO) in Madrid in February 2005.
In 2008 he resumed his artistic activity in his studio in the neighborhood of Las Alcaravaneras, collaborating occasionally with the Luroa Gallery and the CUADRO Gallery in Las Palmas, and GUAYABA in Santa Cruz de Tenerife; he collaborated with the company "I+D Danza" of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the scenography of the show "Esperanza" premiered at the TEA in Tenerife and at the Auditorio de Tenerife, 2009.
Since 2010 he participates in several collective and individual projects in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Until 2014 he actively collaborates with the CUADRO Gallery with which he has held several solo exhibitions.
In 2013 he launched the TANDEM SPACE project for ISPO Munich, the International Sports Industry Fair that takes place in Germany. In January 2014 he invited the Canarian artist MIguel Panadero to be part of this initiative, with whom he developed the project "Birdman Dream".
The initiative of TANDEM SPACE for ISPO Munich, is very well received and is committed to its inclusion in the January 2015 edition. This time the project is articulated under the name "FREEDOM" and includes the artists Jose Walker (UK), Ray Moore (US), Miguel Panadero (ES) and MorenoTapia (ES). The proposal is also welcomed at the Stroke Art Fair held in Munich in October 2015.
In January 2016 Germany will once again host a new edition of the TANDEM SPACE proposal at ISPO Munich. This time Inés Seidel (GE), Majilina (IT), Adam Hartshorne (UK), Miguel Panadero (ES) and MorenoTapia (ES) develop the proposal "#CLOUDS". The proposal will be welcomed again at the Stroke Art Fair to be held in Munich in May 2016. Tandem Space consolidates in 2018 with the last of its proposals entitled "DOTS" working as a team with Miguel Panadero and Irene de León, among others.
Contact
Mobile: 608 67 45 56
E-mail: info@morenotapia.com www.morenotapia.com @morenotapia_art
C/ Valencia, 37
35006 Alcaravaneras,
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
