Simmons-Jiménez won, in 1992, one of the prizes of the XVIII Bienal Nacional de Artes Visuales with the first video-art installation ever realized in the Dominican Republic, "A couple of days in the life of Julie Ozama" (1992). . .  plays with her doubled alterity … and codifies a new vision of Nature’s preformistic talents.  

Dr. Alanna Lockward “Towards a Utopian Archeology”

My formative years were shaped by constant re-location. I accepted an identity that was fluid, not based on a country, a specific culture, or an ethnicity, but a collection of parts, ideas, and attitudes coming from many places. I work in multiple media embracing transformation, exploration, and discovery and look to the landscape as a spiritual connection between a wide global family and the planet.

My projects in painting, sculpture, video and installation, are influenced by my exposure to many diverse cultures and the continual adaptation and assimilation of rich contradictions. It is a process that blurs boundaries, a sense of homeland and roots, leaving one without a sense of truly belonging anywhere. The tendency of the homeless is to wander, and in my wandering, connection and community building through art has been a beacon.

As a consequence, my work has become grounded in the common bond of nature, balancing rootedness and impermanence, using color, light, texture, movement, and sound. I seek to create a wonderland of my own and a conversation honoring the ambiguities, the connections, and the flow that traverses both nature and human existence.

BIO

Alette Simmons-Jiménez (b. 1952, Madison, Wisconsin) received a BFA from Newcomb Memorial College of Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana (1975). The artist began her studio practice in the Dominican Republic and is now based in Miami, Florida

The artist has exhibited extensively in museums, galleries, and media festivals internationally and has collaborated with designers and architects to install large-scale commissions in public and private spaces.  Her latest solo exhibition was presented with site specific works for Oolite Arts Walgreens Windows Projects, Miami Beach (2024).

Other notable solo exhibits have been presented at the Miami International Airport Art in Public places Moving image Gallery (2023), Museum of Arts & Sciences, Daytona Beach (2022); The Miami Design District, Space S|223 with curator Tiffany Chestler (2020); Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo (1997); Palm Beach ICA Media Room, curator Michael Rush (2001); Inter-American Development Bank Washington D.C., curator Susana Leval (2000); Oolite Arts Walgreens Windows Projects, Miami Beach (2018); and the Frances Wolfson Gallery at Miami-Dade College (2001), among others.  Notable group shows have been at Centro León, Santiago, Dominican Republic (2024); 21C Hotel Museum, Louisville, KY (2015); US Dept. of State Art in Embassies Program Riyadh, Saudi Arabia & Tegucigalpa, Honduras (2015 & 1999); Boca Raton Museum of Art (2014); Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, (2012); Appleton Museum, Ocala, FL (2010); Casa de la Cultura-Valencia, Spain (2010); MOCA N. Miami (2001); Lowe Museum (2000); Mobile Museum of Art (1999); Musée du Luxembourg, Paris (1989); and numerous others.

Simmons-Jiménez is a recipient of a Miami Individual Artist Grant (2024 & 2023), a prestigious Knight Arts Challenge Grant (2008), a Miami-Dade Tourism Development Grant (2008), a Miami-Dade Community Grant (2008), a Florida State Artists Enhancement Grant (2006), a Florida Fellowship Grant & Honorable Mention (1998 & 1995). The artist has been cited as the first to exhibit video installation art in the Dominican Republic, and received a 1st Prize in Video at the Dominican XVIII Biennial (1992). She is listed among creatives forging the South Florida art community in the publicans “Miami Contemporary Artists” and “100+ Degrees In The Shade: A Survey of South Florida Art”.

The artist received an Oolite Arts Home & Away Grant, and attended the artist residency program at MASS MoCA (2024).  She was invited and attended Résidence D'Artiste Ifitry, Essaouira, Morocco (2019), and was awarded a grant to a seminar/residency at Es Baluard Museum of Contemporary Art, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (2017).  

Simmons-Jiménez presented her latest solo show with site-specific works for Oolite Arts Walgreens Windows Project, Miami Beach (2024). 

While the artist continues developing her practice she is also dedicated to community building. From 2004-2011, she founded/directed artist-run collective Artformz Alternative, exhibiting over 150 artists. Simmons-Jiménez also served on the BOD of ArtTable, Inc New York and held positions of FL Chapter Chair and Programming Director (2013-2016).  Currently the artist hosts and produces Art & Company Podcast, (2018 - present) gaining an international audience, while promoting and documenting the burgeoning South Florida art scene.

No Vacancy MURMURATION, City of Miami Beach 2023