Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1962. Residing in the US since 1987
Selected Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2013
Annie Meyer Gallery Portland Oregon (solo exhibition) Wall Pieces and Sculpture
1986
Vea Art Gallery Buenos Aires, Argentina
Group shows and Art Festivals
2010 / 2018
Axis Gallery 13th National Juried Exhibition Sacramento, CA
Milwaukee Museum of Art Lakefront Art Festival Sculpture
Cherry Creek Art Festival Denver Colorado Sculpture
The Escondido Municipal Art Gallery “Fiber and Book Arts” Escondido, CA
4 Art Gallery “Somnambulist”, Chicago, IL
Gertrude Herbert, A Sense of Place 2010, Augusta, GA
Brand Library 39, Works on Paper, Glendale, CA
Sylvia White Gallery, 2010 National Juried Exhibition, Ventura, CA
B.J. Spoke Gallery, Paperworks 2010, Huntington, NY
Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, National Juried Exhibition, Novato, CA
Woodbury Art Museum, Our Century, Orem, UT
Sebastopol Center for the Arts, National 2010 Juried Exhibition, Sebastopol, CA
Morgan’s Gallery, “Tea Pots!”, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
American Craft Council Baltimore Maryland
Previous Years
Eleven Eleven Sculpture Space, “Not the Knitting you Know” – Washington, DC
Bellevue Museum of Art Pacific Northwest Festival, Bellevue, Washington
Philadelphia Museum of Art ,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Scuptures and Art Objects
Washington Show, Washington, DC.
Public Art
2009 Sculpture Purchase by The City of Lafayette’s Public Art Collection for
The Lafayette Library and Learning Center (curated by The Oakland Museum of Art of California).
Awards.
2012
Best of Category Award, Lakefront Arts Festival at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Merit Award Boca Raton Museum of Art Show Florida
2011
Juror’s Award Fort Worth Arts Festival Texas
Best of Show in 3D 44th annual Osceola Art Festival Florida
2010
First Prize, Private Eyes Exhibition, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Marin County, CA
Merit Award: National 2010 Juried Exhibition, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA
Sylvia White Gallery, Group Show, 2010 National Juried Exhibition, Ventura, CA
Best of Show, Artigras, Palm Beach, Florida
Second Place The Escondido Municipal Art Gallery “Fiber and Book Arts” Escondido, CA
Brand Library Art Galleries Works on Paper, Glendale California
2005/06
First Prize: Portland Arts Festival, Portland, Oregon
Second Place: Scottsdale Center for the Arts Show (Sculpture category), Scottsdale, Arizona
1992
Purchase Award: City of Miami Beach Festival, Miami, Florida
Patron Purchase Award: Las Olas Art Festival, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Florida
Selected Bibliography
Several press articles and reviews about her work were published in magazines and newspapers, among others:
TC Palms Newspaper
The Art Muse
San Francisco Examiner
The Bay Guardian
Details Magazine
San Francisco Weekly
San Francisco Chronicle
San Jose Mercury News
Buenos Aires Herald
Fashion Critic Judy Cantor from the Buenos Aires Herald wrote about Viviana’s work:
“If space creatures who studied at the Bauhaus, lived in a junkyard and shopped at Chanel went out to a psychedelic discotheque, they’d be wearing clothes designed by Viviana Santamarina” …”Viviana’s artistic talent is evident from the fact she can take these everyday materials and somehow put them together in a way that they become elegant. Her apparent influences vary from the German painters of the twenties to sixties Pop Art to television and B-movies to traditional Parisian couture.”…”Viviana certainly is not status quo. But she goes overboard in her zeal for change and her more extreme designs serve better as objects than adornment.”
Painter Pablo Suarez wrote on the preface of her exhibition at VEA Gallery:
“Like an intergalactic cockatoo, cutting with a ray-gun that place where the suburb meets the tropical”.
Background
1980
She resides and works at the Cite International Des Arts, Paris, France. During this period she approaches the Fashion and Art worlds resulting in a strong influence from the experimental and avant-garde art and design of the 30’s. Ballet studies with famed dancer and teacher Nina Tikanova.
1985
A recently formed all women’s Rock group, “Viuda e Hijas de Roque Enroll”, commissions her to build-up their image through costumes and set design for their shows. In the following two years this group becomes one of the most popular groups in Argentina and other Latin American countries, giving a concert for a crowd of 12,000 at the Luna Park Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
After that, other groups and individuals commission her designs
1986
VEA Art Gallery in Buenos Aires invites her to exhibit her works where they are met with acceptance and support from the public and media
1987
She moves to the United States, settling in San Francisco, where she starts, partnering with husband painter and designer Alejandro Santamarina “Viviana Bonanomi” and “Club Mersa” brands.
She actively participates in the art and design scene in the United States working in a variety of mediums for the last 30 years.
vivianasantamarina.com 