Noé Piña is a mixed media and installation artist in Los Angeles, CA. His work is inspired by the concept of balance. Through paintings and sculptures of teeter-totters Noé represents the concept of correspondence, “As above, so below,” by depicting balance and interconnectedness between two opposing forces or entities. The teeter-totter is a simple mechanism where two ends are balanced. This balance symbolizes the idea that what happens on one end (the “above”) has a corresponding effect on the other end (the “below”). Just as a teeter-totter moves up and down in response to weight distribution, the universe and all its components can be seen as interconnected and in balance.
The teeter-totter also represents the interaction between opposing forces—when one end rises, the other falls. This mirrors the concept of polarity or duality present in the idea of correspondence. What is above (heaven, the divine, the macrocosm) is balanced by what is below (earth, humanity, the microcosm), and changes in one affect the other.
Through the exploration of the teeter-totter, Noé aims to visually communicate the principle of correspondence by illustrating the interconnectedness and balance between different levels of existence, emphasizing the unity and harmony of the cosmos.
He works with found materials used in construction, using terracotta bricks, nails, and wood fragments to create sculptures and installations that address the complexities of maintaining balance, from personal to social to economic. Noé explores the fragility, and precariousness of things, nature, and systems and how the forces of pressure and stress remain in or produce balance. Noé's installations display an environment that is at once an environment of graceful balance and crude counterbalance, thus creating a sense of tension. The result is an anticipation of a disaster, the expectancy of a cataclysmic fall. Through his video projections, he reveals the catastrophic consequence of the pieces when they collapse as Noé removes their source of balance, stress, and weight - typically the bricks.
His work has been exhibited at The University of Memphis Art Museum, in Mexico City, Galeria Azur Madrid, and SUR Biennial, in Los Angeles where his installation and paintings were acquired by The AltaMed Art Foundation.
EDUCATION
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, BFA, 1998
Cal State Los Angeles, Fine Arts 2000, Latin American Studies 2021
Pasadena City College, Fine Art
Instituto Cultural Cabañas, Guadalajara, Mexico
LAMusArt, Los Angeles Music & Art School, East Los Angeles, CA
Plaza de La Raza, Los Angeles, CA
EXHIBITIONS
2023 SUR: BIENNIAL, Interconnection: Ancestral Environments, Rio Hondo College Art Gallery
2023 Time Constraint, IU Kokomo Art Gallery, Indiana University
2023 SEMANA DE ARTE, CDMX, Art Galley Studios, Mexico City, Mexico
2023 Art Night, Los Angeles Music & Art School
2022 Casa Cultura show in Neza Exhibition, PRPG.mx in partnership with Secretaria de Cultura - Estado de Mexico, Gobierno municipal de Nezahualcoyotl, and CECYT 1 of the Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Galeria Angular
2022 ART IN THE TIME OF CORONA™ VOL 2., A GLOBAL ART PROJECT, Dab Art Co. H Gallery, CA
2022 CLAVO Feria en Movimiento 3ra Edicion, with PRPG, Galeria, Roma Norte, Mexico City
2022 Eslavon Perdido: Alternative Materials and Processes - PRPG, Galeria, Mexico City, Mexico
2022 Seeing Abstraction, Galeria Azur, Madrid, Spain.
2022 Portals and Portholes: A National Juried Exhibition, By Dr. Francisco J. Hernandez-Ilizaliturri (Paco), founder of the Buffalo Art Movement
2022 LAFS Biennial Festival, Liturgical and Sacred Art Exhibition, Springfield Art Association
2022 Collector's Choice 2022, Studio Channel Islands Gallery, Camarillo, CA
2021 Group Exhibition, S7CAG, Sector 7 Contemporary Art Gallery, South Pasadena, CA
2021 HINDSIGHT 2020, Art Museum of The University of Memphis, TN
2021 ART IN THE TIME OF CORONA™ A GLOBAL ART PROJECT, Dab Art Co.
2021 The Americas COVID-19 Memorial, Biennial of The Americas, Virtual Exhibition, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation
2021 Now Trending, A Virtual Exhibition, 5th Annual Beverly G. Alpay Exhibition, Juror: Dennis Keeley, Palos Verdes Art Center / Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education, CA
2021 Age+Action Photograph Award Contest & Showcase, NCOA (National Council On Aging) Selection of “Say Cheese” Photograph
2021 Illumination: A Light on Asian Hate, Public Art Installation, City Hall, City of Alhambra, CA
2021 Infinity: A Virtual Exhibition, The Holy Art, London, UK
RESIDENCIES
2023 Art Gallery & Studios, CDMX, Mexico
2021 -2022 Art Lab Incubator, PRPG.mx (Proyectos Residencia y Proyectos Galeria) Juarez, CDMX, Mexico, Fall Scholarship Recipient
2021 Popul/Arte: Artist-Scholar Incubator, The Latino Cultural Arts Center
PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA
2023 Assignment Magazine, The Literary Magazine of Mountainview MFA Program at Southern New Hampshire University
2022 Zero Magazine, MX, April 2022 “THIS WAS THE GRAND INAUGURATION OF ART “PRPGMX” LOCATED IN CDMX”
2022 LAMusArt ( Los Angeles Music and Art School) Alumni Profile
2022 Wildroof Journal, March, Issue 13
2022 Beyond Words Magazine, January, Issue 22
2021 South Pasadena News, South Pasadena Fall Arts Crawl | + S7CAG Gallery
2021 Choose 901, Mention of “Take a Deep Breath” Art Museum of The University of Memphis, Exhibit, Heindseight 09/09/2021
2021 South Pasadena News, South Pasadena Summer Arts Crawl | + S7CAG Gallery
2021 The Story of Feeling up and down, of rising and falling, The Good Life Review Summer 2021 Issue
20212 Beyond Words Magazine, August 2021
2021 The Closed Eye Open | Presents, Ripples on the Pond: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World theclosedeyeopen.com #3, Summer 2021
2021 Daily Arts Hub, July 2021, dailyartshub.com
2021 ISHVARA, Wellness Blog, Summer 2021, ishvarawellness.com, https://ishvarawellness.com/home/3g4vdkgjx56zqvgqy7zpmsfoijxf3x
2021 7th Review Me - Artist Interview and Publication - Spring 2021
2021 “Artistonish Magazine” Issue #10, pG54, May 2021
2021 “Around Alhambra Newspaper” 2nd Time Around Graces Alhamra, 05/2021, By Glenn Barnett
2015 "Artascent," ArtAscent June 2015 V13, publication. Pg. 94-95 https://artascent.com/
Page 94 - 95
MEMBERSHIPS
2021 - 2023 - Young Professionals Advisory Board, Los Angeles Music & Art School. En Español
2021 - Arts for LA
© Noē Piña 2023