BIOGRAPHY:

Michael Arcega’s creative research is a poetic investigation of power dynamics through playful gestures. He uses object-metaphors to make sculptures, installations, and activations that interrogate historical and political narratives. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally and has been discussed in academic journals, art publications, and a range of media platforms.

Arcega is a Professor at San Francisco State University, where he heads the Sculpture and Expanded Practice area in the School of Art. He serves on the curatorial boards of Root Division Gallery and the Recology Artist in Residence Program. Arcega holds a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Stanford University and maintains a studio in San Francisco.

His practice has been supported by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Joan Mitchell Foundation, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Artadia, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Foundation, among others. He has been an Artist in Residence at the Joan Mitchell Center, Montalvo Arts Center, Recology Artist in Residence Program, 18th Street Arts Center, Headlands Center for the Arts, Fountainhead Residency, International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Al Riwaq Art Space in Bahrain, Unicorn Centre for Art in Beijing, and Yuyuan Lu Residency in Shanghai. His work is in the collection of the de Young Museum, MCASD, BAM/PFA, SFAC, among others.