Hector Madera

1977– · @studiomadera

Héctor Madera is a Puerto Rican artist, born in Bayamón in 1977. He holds an MFA from Brooklyn College (2011).

SGR Galería in Bogotá describes a practice that grows out of personal experience and close observation of everyday situations, made through painting, collage, neon sculpture and installation. A 2018 exhibition listing from Galería Karen Huber in Mexico City names his materials as common ones: tape, household paint, found objects, magazines and posters. Writing for Cool Hunting in 2019, Katy Hamer observed that he "looks to memes, buzzwords, hashtags and other symbols of popular culture."

In 2018 he exhibited …estaba perdido, pero estar perdido nunca se sintió tan cabrón… (…I was lost, but being lost never felt so damn good…) at SGR Galería and Y cuando uno vive en el paraiso, ya uno no quiere irse tan pronto (And when you live in paradise, you don't want to leave so soon) at Galería Karen Huber. At ARTBO in 2019, an installation of his square canvases filled a wall of the SGR Galería booth. In 2021 the gallery presented De los misterios y los gemelos (Of the mysteries and the twins), an installation made with the artist Paulo Licona.

From August 31 to October 26, 2024, the Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar (MADMi) in San Juan presented Another Day in Paradise, a large-scale installation in homage to his community in Puerta de Tierra. Puerto Rico Art News reported that it included a mural 16 feet high and 40 feet wide, abstracted from a sunset seen from a neighbor's balcony. From July 10 to September 6, 2025, SGR Galería showed his paintings and sculptures in La responsabilidad de tener ojos cuando otros los perdieron (The responsibility of having eyes when others lost them); in a gallery text by Claudia Segura Mattos, the sculptures recall the stairs outside the building where he lives in San Juan. In 2026 FADS, in Puerta de Tierra, showed Ya no vivo por vivir (I no longer live just to live), whose centerpiece was a set of basketball-court bleachers on which visitors were invited to leave their mark with a marker.

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22Steady momentum

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Shows76 · 15 solo›
  • 2026Ya no vivo por vivir, FADS, San JuanSolo
  • 2025La responsabilidad de tener ojos cuando otros los perdieron, SGR Galería, BogotáSolo
  • 2024Otro Día en el Paraíso, Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar, San JuanMuseumSolo
  • 2023Servicio a Domicilio*, Adhesivo Contemporary, Mexico CityGroup
  • 2022Shout Out to Myself for Ruining my Own Life, Km 0.2, SanturceSolo
  • 2022REVISTA, SGR Galería, BogotáGroup
  • 2021De los misterios y los gemelos, SGR Galería, BogotáSolo
  • 2021Érase una vez una historia feliz, Galería Karen Huber, Mexico CitySolo
  • 2021Otras Geografías, SGR Galería, BogotáGroup
  • 2021ENTREFORMAS, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San JuanMuseumGroup
  • 2020YO NACÍ EN UN MARATÓN, Casa Equis, Mexico CitySolo
  • 2019El Jardín de Galileo, Guadalajara 90210, Mexico CityGroup
  • 2019Collective Show, Galería Karen Huber, Mexico CityGroup
  • 2018...estaba perdido, pero estar perdido nunca se sintió tan cabron..., SGR Galería, BogotáSolo
  • 2018Y Cuando Uno Vive En El Paraíso Ya Uno No Quiere Irse Tan Pronto, Galería Karen Huber, Mexico CitySolo
  • 2018Antropologia Moderna, Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM), MonterreyMuseumGroup
  • 2018La estructura de lo pasajero, Casa Lu, TlalpanGroup
  • 2018El Apartamento imaginario del Dr. Atl, Guadalajara90210, Mexico CityGroup
  • 2018Dolores, Guadalajara90210, Mexico CityGroup
  • 2017Sabroso Veneno, Anonymous Gallery, Mexico CityGroup
  • 2017CODA Paper Art, CODA Museum, ApeldoornMuseumGroup
  • 2017ENTRADA LIBRE, Karen Huber Gallery, Mexico CityGroup
  • 2017One Love, One Life, One Parking, Temistocles 59, Mexico CityGroup
  • 2016NO PARE DE SUFRIR, Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico CitySolo
  • 2016De Donde Coño Venimo’, Que Carajo Somo’, Pa’ Donde Puñeta Vamo’, KB Espacio Para La cultura, BogotáSolo
  • 2016Material, National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture, ChicagoMuseumGroup
  • 2016An Intricate Stew Of Truths and Mirages, The Third Policeman Gallery, Brooklyn, NYGroup
  • 2016Headspace, Brian Morris Gallery, New YorkGroup
  • 2015Shameful acts, disgraceful episodes, grandiose moments, insignificant achievements and everything in between, Espacio 20/20, SanturceSolo
  • 2015Cut n Mix, Museo del Barrio, New YorkMuseumGroup
  • 2015Summer Group Show, Zawahra Alejandro, New YorkGroup
  • 2015Muestra Nacional de las Artes, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San JuanMuseumGroup
  • 2014Super Macho, Active Space, Bushwick, NYGroup
  • 2013Paper, Saatchi Gallery, LondonMuseumGroup
  • 2013O te peinas o te haces rolos, La Productora, San JuanGroup
  • 2012Papo Tiza & Co, Roberto Paradise, San JuanSolo
  • 2012Material Breach, Art Amalgamated, New YorkGroup
  • 2012The Credentialist, CAM Raleigh, RaleighMuseumGroup
  • 2012Roberto Paradise, Josh Lilley Gallery, LondonGroup
  • 2012The Way In, Banco Popular, San JuanGroup
  • 2012Pueltorrican Infiltration, Artimaña, MadridGroup
  • 2012Someone Else’s Dreams, Hyde Park Art Center, ChicagoMuseumGroup
  • 2011el pah-pay-lone, Metro: Plataforma Organizada, San JuanSolo
  • 2011Pretty Vacant, Mathematics Collective, BrooklynGroup
  • 2011Memory Palace: Brooklyn College MFA Thesis Exhibition, Flux Factory, Long Island City, QueensGroup
  • 2011De Bayamon a la 15, Cart Watch, San JuanGroup
  • 2011Hybrid Life Forms, 600/3x9 Project, BrooklynGroup
  • 2011MFA Exhibition, College Art Association, Times Square Gallery, New YorkGroup
  • 2011Espacio Entre Medio, Chemi’s Room, San JuanGroup
  • 2011A PERSON OF COLOR/ a mostly orange exhibition, The Green Gallery, MilwaukeeGroup
  • 2011The Wrong Miracle, NoMiNIMO Espacio Cultural, GuayaquilGroup
  • 20104.0, Rule Gallery, DenverGroup
  • 2010A Feast of Fools, Second Floor, BrooklynGroup
  • 2010I want to believe that something extraordinary can happen, Bowman/Bloom Gallery, New YorkGroup
  • 2010Painting with Pictures, Casita Maria Center for the Arts and Education, Bronx, NYGroup
  • 2010From NY with Love, Don’t Projects, ParisGroup
  • 2009Muestra Nacional de las Artes, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San JuanMuseumGroup
  • 2009Painting, Edge Zones, MiamiGroup
  • 2009Can’t rape the willing, Second Floor, BrooklynGroup
  • 2009From NY with Love, Galería Candela, San JuanGroup
  • 2008En Sus Marcas, Sala de Artes, Universidad del Sagrado Corazon, San JuanMuseumGroup
  • 2008Landings 8, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, TaipeiMuseumGroup
  • 2007Optical Borderline: Housing Development Project, Photo Miami, MiamiSolo
  • 2007Art of Uncertainty, Edge Zones, San SalvadorGroup
  • 2007Pop, Petrus Gallery, San JuanGroup
  • 2007Donde los Milagros Ocurren, Galería Candela, San JuanGroup
  • 2007Bastardos, Petrus Gallery, San JuanGroup
  • 2007Segunda / Tercera Planta: Casa Candela, Galería Candela, San JuanGroup
  • 2007La Espera: Modos y Metodos, Galería Candela, San JuanGroup
  • 2007HOY, BLACKBOXART, San JuanGroup
  • 2006Look forward, Look back, Look around, Tag ROM, San JuanGroup
  • 2005Ninjas Killed My Family, Galería Comercial, San JuanGroup
  • 2005Emergent-C-8, Galería Sin Título, San JuanGroup
  • 2005VI Certamen Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, San JuanMuseumGroup
  • 2005Tracce di un seminario, Fondazione Antonio Ratti at Careof & Viafarini, MilanMuseumGroup
  • 2004Surely we will be confused, Fondazione Antonio Ratti en Ex-Ticosa, ComoMuseumGroup
Prizes, residencies and commissions7›
  • 2017Artist in Residence, Hotel El Ganzo, MexicoResidency
  • 2016ArtLink Residency Program, Caribbean IslandsResidency
  • 2013Dave Bown Project, unrestricted monetary grantPrize
  • 2005Puffin Foundation Ltd. Grant, Teaneck, New JerseyPrize
  • 2005Lexus Grant, San JuanPrize
  • 2004Residency program @ Fondazione Antonio Ratti, ComoResidency
  • 2002Nuevas Tendencias, Galería Punto Gris, San JuanPrize
Galleries and fairs21›
  • 2026Material, Galería El Kilometro, GuadalajaraFair
  • 2020Zona MACO, Galería Karen Huber, Mexico CityFair
  • 2019ARTBO Feria, SGR Galería, BogotáFair
  • 2018SAMPLE, ZONAMACO, Mexico CityFair
  • 2018UNTITLED, Galería Karen Huber, MiamiFair
  • 2018MECA, Galería Karen Huber, San JuanFair
  • 2017MECA, Zawahra Alejandro, San JuanFair
  • 2015UNTITLED, Today Is The Day Foundation, MiamiFair
  • 2015ArteBA, Espacio 20/20, Buenos AiresFair
  • 2013Art Show BUSn, (Art) Amalgamated (KOR)Fair
  • 2013Art Hamptons, (Art) Amalgamated, New YorkFair
  • 2013NADA, Roberto Paradise, New YorkFair
  • 2013ARCO (Solo Objects), MadridFair
  • 2012NADA, Roberto Paradise, MiamiFair
  • 2012Dependent, Roberto Paradise, New YorkFair
  • 2008Dark Fair, Gallery VER, Swiss Institute, New YorkFair
  • 2007Photo Miami, Galería Candela, MiamiFair
  • 2007SCOPE, Galería Candela, Miami, FLFair
  • 2007SCOPE, Galería Candela, Hamptons, NYFair
  • 2002ARCO, Migrations to/from the Caribbean (The Cutting Edge), MadridFair
  • —SGR Galería, BogotáGallery