Candida Alvarez’s Puerto Rican parents arrived in Brooklyn a few years prior to her birth in 1955. Alvarez is known for complex, vibrantly layered paintings that combine abstract and figurative forms rich in pop, historical, and modern art references. She currently lives and works in Chicago and Baroda, a small town in Michigan. She has had solo exhibitions at El Museo del Barrio, New York (2025), and the Monira Foundation at Mana Contemporary in Chicago (2024), and has participated in notable group exhibitions at the MCA Chicago (2022–23) and the ICA Boston (2023), among others. Her work is held in many museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and The Art Institute of Chicago. In 2023, she was artist in residence at the LUMA Foundation, Arles, France, and at Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Madison, Maine. Alvarez is one of eighteen artists selected to produce a permanent commission for JFK’s 2026 Terminal 6 project.

Photo: Chester Alamo-Costello

Candida Alvarez nació en Brooklyn, en 1955, unos años después de que sus padres llegaran a esa ciudad desde Puerto Rico. Es reconocida por sus cuadros complejos con capas vibrantes, en los que combina formas abstractas y figurativas, repletas de referencias históricas al arte pop y moderno. Hoy vive y trabaja en Chicago y Baroda, una pequeña ciudad de Michigan. Ha tenido exposiciones individuales en El Museo del Barrio, Nueva York (2025), y la Monira Foundation, de Mana Contemporary, en Chicago (2024), y ha participado en muestras colectivas destacadas en el Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2022–23) y el Institute of Contemporary Art, en Boston (2023), entre otras. Su obra forma parte de colecciones como la del Whitney Museum of American Art, en Nueva York, y The Art Institute of Chicago. En 2023 hizo una residencia de artista en la LUMA Foundation, en Arlés, Francia, y en la Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, en Madison, Maine. Alvarez forma parte del grupo de dieciocho artistas que creará una obra permanente para la terminal 6 del aeropuerto John F. Kennedy, que se inaugurará en 2026.