Esperanza Cortés and her artistic practice delves into the intersections of identity, history, and culture, challenging viewers to reconsider social and historical narratives, particularly those shaped by colonialism.
Cortés (b. 1957) was born in Bogóta, Colombia and is based in New York City. Since attending Queen’s College, she has been an Artist in Residence at Yaddo (2025, NY), Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture (2024, OR), Peters Valley School of Craft (2023, NJ), and more. Cortés has been the award recipient of the New York State Council on the Arts Project Grant (2023), Creative Capital Foundation: Shortlist 2022, Joan Mitchell Foundation: Artist Relief Fund (2020), the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation: Guggenheim Fellowship (2018), among many others.
She has exhibited across the United States, including the Smack Mellon Gallery, Bronx Museum of Art, Queens Museum, El Museo del Barrio, MoMA PS1, and Socrates Sculpture Park. National exhibitions include Albright-Knox Gallery, Ogden Contemporary Arts, Turchin Center for The Visual Arts, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Art Museum. She has been part of international exhibitions in Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Japan, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Spain and Greece. Cortés’ work is in private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the American Embassy in Monterey, Mexico.
Photo of Esperanza Cortés
