Ivan Toth Depeña
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Ivan Toth Depeña | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 31, 1972 |
| Occupations | Artist, sculptor, architectural designer |
| Years active | 2010 - Present |
Ivan Toth Depeña (born October 31, 1972) is an American artist, sculptor, and architectural designer. He is currently based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is known for his fine art and public art works and installations such as Reflect, located in the Stephen P. Clark Government Center,[1][2] and the augmented reality installation Lapse.[3][4] His works are known for their combination of glass, light, and interactivity.
Depeña was born in Miami, Florida.[4] He is of Cuban descent.[5][6] As a young artist in Miami, he was influenced by New York City graffiti artists.[2] He attended an art intensive high school, the New World School of the Arts.[2][7]
Depeña attended Pratt Institute[8][9] before graduating with a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Miami and a master's degree in architecture from Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.[2][5]
Career
While he was based in Miami, Depeña had group and solo exhibitions with institutions such as Locust Projects,[9][10] the Frost Art Museum,[11] the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, Pérez Art Museum Miami, and the David Castillo Gallery.[12][13] Outside of Miami, Depeña has also lived and worked in New York.[14] His work has also been displayed in the Praxis Gallery in New York City[15] and the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut.[16]
Depeña completed his first public art installation, Reflect, in 2011.[1][2]
In 2013, Depeña won the Knight Foundation's Knight Arts Challenge and was awarded a grant to create an interactive public art installation using augmented reality and geopositioning, which became the art installation Lapse.[17]
Depeña relocated to Charlotte in 2014 after being offered an artist-in-residence position at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation.[2] In the same year he was awarded a project by New Mexico's Art in Public Places program, which became the art installation Inside/Out.[5][16]
Depeña was a finalist for the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) Grants & Commissions program for Hispanic artists for the 2017–2018 season.[9] Depeña was also one of several augmented reality artists who contributed to the Snap Orlando's City Unseen exhibition in 2018.[18]
Depeña also designed an art installation depicting the Solar System that was displayed at Ohio State University in 2019.[19]
In 2023, Depeña's abstract illuminated sculptures depicting photon particles were installed at the entrance of the Duke Energy Plaza in Charlotte.[20]
Depeña has served as an assistant professor of art, music, and design at Queens University.[21]
