ALEXIS PORTILLA (b. 1965) is a Mexican-born artist who previously lived and worked in New York City for many years. He holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from Pratt Institute. His work can be found in public and corporate collections throughout the United States and abroad, including The New York Public Library, Penn State University, Harvard University, Warner Music Group, Pepsi Co., PricewaterhouseCoopers, Norwest Venture Partners, and Mikasa Corporation. In addition, his work is in more than 250 private collections in the United States, England, France, and Germany.
For more than 20 years, Portilla's work has been regularly exhibited at prominent venues throughout the United States. His work has been the subject of 11 solo exhibitions at established galleries in New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, and Hong Kong. His work has been exhibited in museum group exhibitions at the Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan, Hofstra University Museum in New York, and Monmouth Museum in New Jersey, as well as numerous group exhibitions and high-profile art fairs in New York, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
Portilla’s work has received international press attention and has been reviewed in several publications, including Artnews. He has been a faculty instructor at Columbia University, where he taught printmaking to graduate and postgraduate students. He currently lives and works in the northwest of Ireland.
View a PDF of Portilla’s recent projects.
EDUCATION
MFA, Columbia University, 1990
BFA, Pratt Institute, 1987
selected solo exhibitions
2017
Alexis Portilla: Poet in Space, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, NY
2014
Alexis Portilla: Surface Tension, Birnam Wood Galleries, New York, NY
2011
Alexis Portilla: Particles, Causey Contemporary, Brooklyn, NY
2010
Next Art Fair (Solo Booth), Causey Contemporary, Chicago
2009
Alexis Portilla: Under Currents; Paintings and Works on Paper, Chi’ Contemporary Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
2007
Alexis Portilla: Evolution, Chi’ Contemporary Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
2006
Alexis Portilla: Volumes and Incidents, A4L Gallery, New York, NY
2005
Alexis Portilla: Open Lines, Chi' Contemporary Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
2004
Alexis Portilla, Domo Gallery, Summit, NJ
2003
Alexis Portilla: Vocabulary, Memory Gallery, Hong Kong
2000
Alexis Portilla: Paintings, Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ
1995
Alexis Portilla, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Two Person Exhibitions
2007
Bridge Art Fair, Chi’ Contemporary Fine Art, Miami, FL
1996
Two Contemporary Artists: Alexis Portilla and Ed Leonard,
Hofstra University Museum, Hempstead, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017
In the Absence of Color: Artists Working in Black and White, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, NY
(Exhibited artists: Pablo Atchugarry, Will Barnet, Joseph Cornell, Ralston Crawford, Allan D’Arcangelo, Audrey Flack, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Daniel Garber, John Graham, Alex Kanevsky, Mark Leithauser, Conrad Marca-Relli, Louise Nevelson, Pablo Picasso, Alexis Portilla, Richard Pousette-Dart, Mark Tobey, Julius Tobias, Jack Tworkov, Andy Warhol, and Michael (Corinne) West)
Art Wynwood, Hollis Taggart Galleries, Miami, FL
(Exhibited artists: Pablo Atchugarry, Alex Kanevsky, Alexis Portilla, Bill Scott, Kiki Smith, André Wagner, and Martin Willing)
2016
Summer Group Show, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, NY
(Exhibited artists: Robert Baribou, Alex Kanevsky, Chloë Lamb, and Alexis Portilla)
Art Wynwood, Hollis Taggart Galleries, Miami, FL
(Exhibited artists: Pablo Atchugarry, Joseph Cornell, Audrey Flack, John Grillo, Mark Grotjahn, Alex Kanevsky, Chloë Lamb, Sol LeWitt, Robert Motherwell, Alexis Portilla, Bill Scott, Theodoros Stamos, Irene Monat Stern, Wayne Thiebaud, Tom Wesselmann, Martin Willing, and Alan Wolfson)
2015
Summer Group Exhibition, Birnam Wood Galleries, New York, NY
(Exhibited artists: Margaret Garrett, Alexis Portilla, Michael Rich, and other gallery artists)
Art Miami New York, Birnam Wood Galleries, New York, NY
(Exhibited artists: Romare Bearden, David Datuna, Beauford Delaney, Susan Grossman, Alexis Portilla, Robert Rauschenberg, Michael Rich, and Jon Schueler)
Art on Paper Fair, Birnam Wood Galleries, New York, NY
2014
Winter Group Show, Birnam Wood Galleries, East Hampton, NY
(Exhibited artists: Margaret Garrett, Chlöe Lamb, Alexis Portilla, and other gallery artists)
Art Miami, Birnam Wood Galleries, Miami, FL
(Exhibited artists: Maya Freelon Asante, Jessica Benjamin, David Datuna, Willem de Kooning, Beauford Delaney, Sam Francis, Margaret Garrett, John Grillo, Susan Grossman, Alexis Portilla, Robert Rauschenberg, Michael Rich, Theodoros Stamos, and Aurelia Wasser)
Fall Group Show, Birnam Wood Galleries, East Hampton, NY
(Exhibited artists: Margaret Garrett, Alexis Portilla, Michael Rich, and other gallery artists)
Art Southampton, Birnam Wood Galleries, Bridgehampton, NY
(Exhibited artists: David Datuna, Willem de Kooning, Beauford Delaney, Sam Francis, Margaret Garrett, Susan Grossman, John Hardy, Marsden Hartley, Alexis Portilla, Robert Rauschenberg, Katherine Ryan Roth, Aurelia Wasser, and Natalie Wrobel)
2013
Art Miami, Birnam Wood Galleries, New York, NY
(Exhibited artists: Norman Bluhm, David Datuna, Beauford Delaney, Willem de Kooning, Sam Francis, Margaret Garrett, Susan Grossman, Arshile Gorky, John Hardy, Wolf Kahn, Tatyana Murray, Alexis Portilla, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, Clifford Smith, David Smith, Aurelia Wasser, and Natalie Wrobel)
Shadow and Line: Harmony in Black and White, Birnam Wood Galleries, New York, NY
(Exhibited artists: Margaret Garrett, Alan Gussow, Conrad Marca-Relli, Agnes Martin, Alexis Portilla, Richard Pousette-Dart, Katherine Ryan Roth, Andy Warhol, and Aurelia Wasser)
One Summer, Birnam Wood Galleries, East Hampton, NY
(Exhibited artists: Norman Bluhm, David Datuna, Willem de Kooning, Sam Francis, Margery Gosnell-Qua, Susan Grossman, John Hardy, Wolf Kahn, Chloe Lamb, Tatyana Murray, Alexis Portilla, Milton Resnick, and Natalia Wrobel)
No Boundaries: Chloe Lamb, Alexis Portilla, Michael Rich, Birnam Wood Galleries, New York, NY
2012
Volumes: Artist Editions, Causey Contemporary, Brooklyn, NY
Gallery Group Show, The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2011
Made in LIC, Jeffery Leder Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2010
Art on Paper: A Juried Exhibition, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ
ArtPrize 2010, Grand Rapids Art Museum, MI
Made in LIC, Jeffery Leder Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2006
Six Degrees of Separation, Chi’ Contemporary Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
2005
Gallery Group Show, A4L Gallery, New York, NY
Gallery Group Show, Chi’ Contemporary Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
Alexis Portilla, Bo Joseph, Jamie Scott, ParadigmArt, New York, NY
1998
Young Artists: Leya Evelyn, Michel Kanter, Sammy Peters and Alexis Portilla, Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Younger Artists: Part One, Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, NY
1996
Gallery Group Show, Seventh Gallery, Cortland, NY
Gallery Group Show, State Gallery, Cortland, NY
Young Artists, Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, NY
1995
Gallery Group Show, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Young Artists, Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, NY
1993
Gallery Group Show, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY
reviews and bibliography
Art Market Report (Summer 2017): pp. 3, 28. New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries.
Alexis Portilla: Poet in Space. New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2017. (Solo exhibition brochure)
Robert Baribou - Alex Kanevsky - Chlöe Lamb - Alexis Portilla. New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2016. (Group exhibition brochures)
Alexis Portilla: Surface Tension. New York: Birnam Wood Galleries, 2014. (Solo exhibition catalogue)
Pat Rogers, “Art for a Snow Day.” Hamptons Art Hub, January 27, 2015.
Kelsey Sundberg, “Tensions Surface in Bold Abstractions by Alexis Portilla,” Artsy, December 22, 2014. (Solo exhibition review)
Pat Rogers, “Alexis Portilla’s Layered Color and Circular Forms Create ‘Surface Tension,’” Hamptons Art Hub, December 20, 2014. (Solo exhibition review)
“NYC Art Round Up: 10 Upcoming Exhibitions to Check Out This Fall,” Guest of a Guest, October 22, 2014. (Solo exhibition review)
van den Herik, Larissa and Carsten Stahn, eds. The Diversification and Fragmentation of International Criminal Law. Lieden, The Netherlands and Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012. (Book cover illustration)
Joseph Becherer, “Grand Rapids Art Museum features ArtPrize exhibits worthy of major metropolitan shows,” Michigan Live, September 30, 2010. (Group exhibition review)
Meredith Mendelsohn, “Reviews: New York,” Artnews, February 2008. (Solo exhibition review)
Elizabeth Vose, “Chemistry Building Home to New Painting,” Penn State Chemistry Newsletter (Fall 2007): pp. cover, 14.
Annabel Walker, ed. “Exhibitions,” South China Morning Post, September 28, 2003. (Solo exhibition review)
“‘Younger Artists: Part One’ at Anita Shapolsky Gallery,” New York Soho Arts Magazine, Feb. 1997. (Group exhibition review)
Two Contemporary Painters: Alexis Portilla and Ed Leonard. Essay by Heather Fellman. Hempstead, NY: Hofstra University Museum, 1996. (Group exhibition brochure with essay)
Public Collections
Bryant University, Smithfield, RI
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
The New York Public Library, New York, NY
Penn State University, State College, PA (commissioned work)
selected corporate collections
Mikasa Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
Warner Brothers Music Group, New York, NY
Pepsi Co., Purchase, NY
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Boston
Norwest Venture Partners, Palo Alto, CA
First Atlantic Capital, New York, NY
Excel, Bermuda
Edwards and Angell, Providence, RI
Meredith and Grew, Boston, MA
Farley White, Boston, MA
Acadian Asset Management, Boston, MA
Proskauer Rose, Boston, MA
New Star Financial, Boston, MA
Cross Harbor Capital, Boston, MA
Weil Gotshal & Manges, Providence, RI
Partner Reinsurance, Pembroke, Bermuda
Hale & Dorr, Washington, DC
Bingham Dana & Gould, Boston, MA
Total System Services, Columbus, OH
Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA
Millennia, Boston, MA
Renaissance Worldwide, Waltham, MA
Goodwin Proctor & Hoar, Boston, MA
Goodwin Proctor & Hoar, New York, NY
X.L. Pembroke, Bermuda
Odyssey America RE, New York, NY
Greystone Realty Corp., Westport, CT
Limerock Partners, Westport, CT
Michael Page Intl, New York, NY
Reliance National, New York, NY
Hyundai Securities, New York, NY
Old Mutual (US) Holdings, New York, NY
Hanify & King, Boston, MA
