Edin Velez is a Puerto Rican video artist, director and professor. He is best known for his work on the documentary films ''State of Rest and Motion'' and ''Dance of Darkness''.

Life and career

Edin was born and raised in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and is currently based in New York. He studied painting at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

and the

Institute of Puerto Rican Culture An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

. He moved to the US in the early 1970s and became part of the first generation of video artists working in

SoHo, Manhattan SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall (SoHo), and ha ...

. His directorial debut documentary film on Japanese

Butoh is a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founder ...

, ''Dance of Darkness'', was broadcast nationally in the US by PBS. He is a professor and coordinator of the video program at

Rutgers University–Newark Rutgers University–Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. It is located in Newark, New Jersey, Newark. Rutgers, fo ...

. Edin has received numerous award, including American Film Institute's

Maya Deren Award The American Film Institute Award for Independent Film and Video Artists, subtitled and generally known as the Maya Deren Award, was an award presented to filmmakers and video artists by the American Film Institute to honor independent filmmaking. ...

, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the U.S./Japan Friendship Commission, the Jerome Foundation and the

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...

Selected exhibitions

Edin's work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions in such institutions as the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

documenta 8 documenta 8 was the eighth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 12 June and 20 September 1987 in Kassel, West Germany. The artistic directors were Manfred Schneckenburger and Edward F. Fry. P ...

, American Film Institute National Video Festival,

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

and

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * Living people American video artists Rutgers University faculty People from Arecibo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican documentary filmmakers Film directors from New York (state) University of Puerto Rico alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{PuertoRico-bio-stub