Michael Arcega’s creative research centers around a poetic investigation around power dynamics and marginalized communities. He uses object-metaphors to make sculptures, installations, and activations that critique historic and political narratives. This work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally and have been discussed in academic journals, art publications and a range of media platforms.
Arcega is an Associate Professor at San Francisco State University and heads the Sculpture and Expanded Practice area in the School of Art. He serves on the curatorial boards at Root Division Gallery and the Recology Artist in Residency Program. He holds a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an MFA from Stanford University. He lives and works from a studio in San Francisco.
Arcega is a recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, Artadia grant, SFAC Artist Grant, Joan Mitchell MFA Award, Murphy Cadogan Fine Arts Fellowship, among others. He has been an Artist in Residence at the Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, SF; Unicorn Centre for Art, Beijing; Yuyuan Lu Residency, Shanghai; 18th Street Art Center, LA; Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga; Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito; the Fountainhead Residency, Miami; Artadia Residency at the ISCP, NYC; Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha; Al Riwaq Art Space, Bahrain; and the Recology Artist Residency Program, SF.