Jesse Amado is the artist behind “Untitled MCMXCV” that is part of the BioBridge Global art collection. He is known for art that is conceptually based and highly formal at the same time.
Amado’s works feature text-based concept art and found materials to represent human experiences. His art traces his investigation of text, repetition and communication.
Amado was born in San Antonio in 1951 and he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. He later earned an MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1990.
Since then, Amado has earned many awards, including a visual arts fellowship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as artist-in-residence grants from the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Nebraska. His works can be found in San Antonio and the United States.
In an interview with Frances Colpit in 1994, Amado talked about his inspirations, including points in his life in San Antonio.
“I am essentially tethered to this area for many reasons: because of my family, and because of my job most of all,” he said.
Amado explained that he takes life experiences and meaningful people in his life and puts them into the pieces he’s created – or is soon to create.>
“The formal part of the work is important,” he said. “So I do not forget about that, but I also want to stress the metaphorical aspect of it. I think of my work in very poetic terms. Poetry is very important to me.”>
Note: “Untitled MCMXCV” is in the executive suite, on the second floor of the in the Headquarters Building.
By Alaysia Bush, summer intern, Randolph High School
