BIO 
bio
Mirta Meltzer discovered her path in life through art at the early age of nine. An accomplished artist in mixed media, Mirta has exhibited her work for over 30 years in international group and solo shows. She creates unique canvasses, art boxes, prints, and specialty papers. Always attracted by unusual boxes, scraps, and objects, she composes stories that evoke another time. Her art boxes stir memories and feelings and intermingle the past with the present.Her work is in the collections of The National Museum of Woman in the Arts in Washington DC, National Engraving Museum of Buenos Aires, Museum of Modern Art of Mendoza in Argentina, Tama Art University of Tokyo and Cultural Institute of Puerto Rico. She is represented in many corporate and private collections including United Airlines in Boston and Washington DC, IMF Washington DC, Crown Plaza Hotel in Palm Beach Florida, Concordia Hotel in Washington DC, and in private collections around the world. She studied at the Fine Art School of Buenos Aires and with private masters. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mirta moved to Washington, DC, in 1996. She teaches art in an Elemenary Public Charter School in the Washington metropolitan area. AWARDS1991 Special mention from the jury to best experimental technique. Municipal Exhibition of Lujan.1990 Mention Printmaking. Municipal Exhibition of Lanus. Prize Alianza Francesa of Santa Fe, National Exhibit, Rosa Galisteo de Rodriguez Art Museum.1989 Mention - Printmaking - IV Exhibition “Actualidad en el Arte”. Mention - Printmaking- IV Exhibition “Mariano Moreno” of Bernal. Prize VI - Exhibition -Artist Association of San Isidro.1986 Mention – Printmaking - Fall Exhibition, Argentine Society of Artist.1985 Mention – Printmaking – Spring Exhibition, Argentine Society of Artist.1983 Mention of Honor, Prize Buenos Aires Cultural Circuit.1978 New Promotions Exhibition, Artist Fine Art Association.SOLO EXHIBITIONS IN THE UNITED STATET2003 Studio 7 and Gala Theater .Washington DC.2001 Voices of the Soul. Studio 7 and Gala Theater .Washington DC.2000 Voices of Women. District of Columbia Jewish Community Center Wash. DC. 1999 " Paperwork" Art Exhibition 'The American Gallery. New York.1998 Art Exhibition Panamerican Health Organization, Washington D.C.1997 “Dream About Spring in Winter”( Installation) Moriah Art Gallery. Bethesda, MD.1996 Inter-American Development Bank, Staff Association Art Gallery. Wash. DC.1995 “Magic Boxes”, Nicholas Davies & Company, Art Gallery New York.IN ARGENTINA2004 “Dame Tu Mano” National Printmaking Museum, Buenos Aires, Argentina.1993 “Memorias del Pasado, Miradas Presentes - Memories from the Past, Views from Present Times - National Gallery , Buenos Aires.1992 “Signs & Paper, graphic experimental on handmade paper. Recoleta Cultural Center, sponsored by the National Printmaking Museum, Buenos Aires.1991 The Loft Gallery, sponsored by the National Printmaking Museum, Buenos Aires. Stamps on handmade paper.1989 Esteban Lisa Foundation Art Gallery.1985 “Manzana de las Luces”, Historical site, Buenos Aires. 1984 Hilda Solano, Art Gallery, Buenos Aires.1983 Municipal Cultural House of Vicente Lopez.“La Porte Ouverte” Art Gallery, Fortabat Cultural Center (Alianza Francesa)1980 Fra Angelico, Art Gallery, Buenos Aires. Witcomb Art Gallery, Buenos Aires.1979 Lirolay Art Gallery, Buenos Aires.1978 Lirolay Art Gallery, Buenos Aires. GROUP EXHIBITIONS INTERNATIONAL 2001/2/3/4 Art For Life, Whitman Walker Clinic.2001 9/11/01 Exhibit, Gormley Gallery, College of Notre Dame of Maryland. 2000 "I Carry My Roots With Me. DCJCC. Washington DC.2000/1999/98/97 “Art For Life” – Whitman Walker Clinic (Office of Latino Affaris) Washington DC. 1997 “Encounters and Traditions” Charles Summer School Museum, Washington D.C.“Six Women Six Expressions”. – Martin Luther King Memorial Library, Wash. D.C. 1997 “Continuum Memory in Motion”. An Loeb Bronfmar Gallery – District of Columbia Jewish Community Center, Washington D.C. 1996 Papel & Papel, National Museum of Central Bank, Ecuador1995/96 Books as Art VIII, The Library and Research Center, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., U.S.A.1994/9 Books as Art VII, The Library and Research Center, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., U.S.A.1995 XI Biennial of San Juan de Puerto Rico, Latin-American and Caribbean Printmaking.1994 Ibero-American Art Exhibition, Washington D.C.1993 X Biennial of San Juan de Puerto Rico, Latin-American and Caribbean Printmaking.1992 MIG 92 International Exhibition of small stamps, Cultural Association “El Cazerón” Getafe Madrid, Spain.1990 CIPE 90 International Exhibition of small stamps, Biennial of La Havana, Cuba.1986 Latin-American Biennial of Art on Paper, Buenos Aires.1981 Contemporary Argentinean Artists, Joinville, Curitiba and Sao Paulo, Brazil. IN ARGENTINA 1997 “El Espíritu de la Colmena”, Recoleta Cultural Center, Buenos Aires. 1996 Molinos de Papel, Municipal Museum of Modern Art, Mendoza.1995 Manuel Belgrano, Municipal Exhibition, Eduardo Sivori Museum, Buenos Aires.“Papel Arte”, Recoleta Cultural Center, Buenos Aires.1994 National Exhibition of Drawing and Printmaking - experimental techniques - San Juan. National Printmaking Museum small stamps exhibition. “Papel Arte” National Museum of Decorative Art, Buenos Aires. “A.E.I.U.O.” “Pandora”, Art Boxes”, Recoleta Cultural Center, Buenos Aires. “20 Argentinean Artistes”, Art Gallery, “La Porte Ouverte” Fortabat Cultural Center, Buenos Aires. “Arteba” Art Gallery Exhibition, Madison Art Gallery, Recoleta Cultural Center, Buenos Aires.1993 Monoprints from Argentinean Artists in Fine Arts Museum and the National Printmaking Museum, Buenos Aires. National Exhibition of Drawing and Printmaking - experimental techniques - Quinquela Martin Exhibition -printmaking and painting-.1992 National Exhibition of Drawing and Printmaking -Monoprint and Printmaking- Neuquen.1991 Municipal Exhibition of Lujan.1991 Prize Kolar, National Printmaking Museum. National Exhibition of Drawing and Printmaking -experimental techniques-1990 National Exhibition of Santa Fe -Printmaking- National Exhibition of Drawing and Engraving -engraving1989 National Exhibition of Drawing and Engraving -Monoprints and Experimental Techniques- Buenos Aires.1988 Cultural Center Las Malvinas.1987 Art Gallery of the Alianza Francesa, Martinez, Buenos Aires. Alianza Francesa Art Gallery, Buenos Aires City. Cultural House of Vicente Lopez, Buenos Aires . Manzana de las Luces, Historical site, Buenos Aires.1984 Centro Ex-bancarios de la O.E.A.1982 Municipal Cultural Center of Tigre, Romulo Raggio Museum.PUBLIC COLLECTIONNational Museum of Women in the Arts – U.S.A Tigre Cultural Center - ArgentinaFortabat Cultural Center - ArgentinaNational Printmaking Museum - ArgentinaModern Art Museum, Mendoza - ArgentinaTama Art University, Tokyo - JapanCultural Institute of Puerto RicoPRIVATE COLLECTIONS United Airlines, Boston and Washington DC, IMF Washington DC, Crown Plaza Hotel Palm Beach Florida, Concordia Hotel, Washington DC and in private collections around the world.THE ART CRITICTS SAY:WHEN LESS IS MORE…Meltzer has turned out objects and etchings that are spontaneous, beautiful and moving. The final shapes of which are dictated by their own textural or volumetric traits rather than by the artist's whim.But let's give credit where it's due: in less talented hands they would just be pieces of wood, iron, leaves, feathers or sea shells just put together in black, glass topped boxes rather than delicate assemblages of the Mar y Bosque series. She obtains equally magic results with even scarcer means in other series generally presented in triptychs, suspended on black backgrounds… It is dramatic, very simple and it clearly shows the importance of the chosen medium (home made paper), the eloquence of whose texture and shape already has its own visual language and doesn't demand nor need much else on its surface. The creator's talent lies on what she leaves out rather than on what she includes. Not an easy choice, but worth the try, for when there's talent, less is more.Alfredo Cernadas Quesada /1992Art critic of Buenos Aires Herald NewspaperPAPER & SIGNMirta Meltzer’s works are a territory of wonders: they do not carry ideas, sketches or prior visions, but rather they behave like recipients where her images will grow as a result of a close dialogue with the material. Meltzer’s creations spring up from an elaborate game in which the exercise of her flowing attention rescues or discards the elements that will finally be components in her vision. A sign, a texture, something added in the fashion of collage, all will be elements that, in a secret ceremony, almost a ritual, will be displayed on the surface to introduce the observer to a hermetic world view and feeling that, if sometimes is dramatic, most of the time is a celebration.By Raul SantanaArt critic and Director of the Museum of Modern Art /1992MEMORIES OF THE PAST- PRESENT VIEWSThis is how contemporary art becomes a fascinating adventure; its expressive possibilities are infinite and related to the artist’s creative resources. The work of art turns into an action which does not consist in “pulling to find” but in “remaining to develop… Mirta chose diverse techniques for the different images. She could do a series of ten works which started from mere dispossession until causing the greatest visual contemplation…. What does this inner call to broaden the creative horizon respond to? A need made her present a series of boxes which enabled her to keep in custody certain elements not destined for immediate use. For most people, the things remain there and do not need to be looked by the others, They are simply kept. But for the artist who presents her boxes, they communicate a hidden and mysterious inner feeling of a past time which is revealed as present…. Nothing is as it was before; the tension created by the microclimate gives the assembled ancient elements the wonder of what is new. She feels faithful only to herself when trying to build a language based in the essence of silence. Julio Sapollnik /1993Art Critic and Director of the National Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina.WINDOWS IN SPACE – Installations in The National GalleryIn tune with an international trend, several painters and sculptors among us have felt the need to express themselves by “installations,” transforming the neutral museum or galleries space into active stages where they display their work. Such is the case of Mirta Meltzer, who now exhibits her creations on the second floor at the National Gallery (Posadas 1725). Her work in mixed media, classifiable as informalism, breaks free of the pictorial limitations to spill on the environment that contains them. They not only cover the walls but also extend into the space and incorporate it as yet another – immaterial - material. Meltzer’s handmade paper is not longer secondary elements; they become the main protagonist. She opens a window/door so that, if properly positioned within its frame, we can see a set of boxes containing different objects and fragments of her works on paper. The whole installation conveys the fragmentary character of objects, facts, and even the artist herself. And this is, precisely, the fundamental concept of her dissemination through space.Elena Oliveras /1993Member of the International Art Critic Association
STATEMENT
With regards to the experience of ‘principle”, the Tao says:
“its emptiness is it’s efficiency,
the reason for its depth.
Suspended, great unfathomable vessel,
margins immense interminable,
unknown, unnamed.”
In the sensation of the vacuum,
I can feel infinity’s life.
I discover the sign of my identity,
the manner of structuring my space.
My own searching nature in permanent
motion, takes me to another reality,
discovering in objects a transparency
that brings me closer to the pure
consistency of things, thus,
a handcrafted paper, a feather or texture,
suggest unveiling their secrets,
and I enjoy the challenge
of developing them.
©Mirta Meltzer. Copyright 2011
