Alicia Framis often starts out from actual social dilemmas to develop novel settings and proposed solutions. She develops platforms for creative social interaction, often through interdisciplinary collaboration with other artists and specialists across various fields. She is currently the director of an MA program at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Nebrija University in Madrid, Spain. In 2019, Alicia Framis was awarded with the Lucas Artists Visual Arts Fellowship 2019-2022.
She studied at the Barcelona University and the École de Beaux Arts in Paris. She completed two masters programs, one at the Institute d’Hautes Etudes, Paris and another at Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam. Framis won Prix Lleida Contemporary Art, Spain (2000) and Prix de Rome, Italy (1997). Her exhibitions include Gender Pavillion at Sala Alcalá 31 Madrid (2018), Century22 in Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2017), Land Project with Rikrit Tiravanija in Thailand (2015), Central Park New York intervention with CreativeTime (2015), the MUSAC, Castilla y Léon (2014), Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem (2013), Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2010), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2002), among others.
Alicia represented the Netherlands in the Dutch Pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennale (2003) and has had work featured in the 2nd Berlin Biennale (2001), Performa 09 New York (2009), and Manifesta 2 Luxemburg (1998). Her work is included in numerous permanent collections, including those of Collection FRAC Lorraine (France), Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Switzerland), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (Netherlands), MUSAC de Castilla y Léon (Spain), Rabo Art Collection (Netherlands), Stedelijk Museum Collection (Netherlands), among others.
Alicia on mentoring: “ I consider teaching as an important part of my artistic practice, as I feel it is my duty to pass on my professional knowledge to younger artists and at the same time keep learning myself. Art is not something that we can really learn in school, but by practicing it in our studios and through the confrontation of our work with our mentors, teachers and other artists. I really believe that a mentor can be key to overcome a crisis, the same way a young artist can be someone that goes on a certain path with you.”