the last coup d'etatÉ
denise turu was born march 22nd, 1976 in buenos aires, argentina, two days before the beginning of the last coup d'etat of the country. denise was a quiet child and not very sociable. her mother, cecilia debiase (a civil lawyer that quit her profession during those years to raise her three daughters, remembers her middle daughter denise) at the early age of 3 years old, playing with puzzles and undoing any kind of electric object that she found in the house. also, she remembers seeing her drawing for hours and hours until the whole floor of her bedroom was covered with papers full of color, shapes and drawings. her father, jorge turu, first generation japanese in argentina, worked as a captain of a cargo ship and for this reason he spent months away from home. denise grew up in a middle class family and her childhood was formed in a catholic school. the house was full with two sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmother and friends. her parents soon realized that little denise had aptitude for the arts and sent her to an art school for kids. Her teacher, the argentine painter jorge balerga, recognized soon this little girl's talent and at the age of 6 years old he gave her the opportunity to participate in her first exhibition in the art school where she was taking classes for painting, sculpture and drawing.
as a teenager,denise wrote several stories that she converted to comics later on. this was the beginning of denise as a cartoonist. her comics were based in characters that exist in real life like friends, relatives , etc. .she was also in charge of the comic section of her high school magazine. one day a well know argentine visual artist, saw her comics and decided to introduce her to elenio pico and raul veroni, the creators of the argentina magazine "el lapiz japones". through these connections denise published her first pocket comic book entitled "un buen corte" . also she started to participated in different comics magazines from argentina and brazil (olho magico, oceano y charquito, cabula, etc..) . she also created the fanzin "yo no fui" with hernan ciriani (actual editor of the comic magazine "cabula") and after a couple of months the magazine was sold in underground stores in buenos aires, "yo no fui" is incorporated in 2000 to the "national public library of buenos bires" (argentina).
in her early twenties denise was still studying graphic design at the "university of buenos aires" and fine arts in the "national school of fine arts pirildiano pueyrredon". she was also having exhibitions in different places in buenos aires and brazil. in 1999, at the age of 22, denise was selected by an american gallery to exhibit her paintings in soho, new york, with other international young artists. the exhibition was a success and denise sold her first five paintings at the opening night. when the exhibition ended she came back to argentina to finish her graphic design degree but with a strong feeling that she would come back to new york. after a year , faced with unemployment anda few opportunities that young argentines had in their country, denise decided to pack her brushes, roll up her canvases, and with u$1000 dollars in her pocket and against her parents and friend's will she left her life in buenos aires behind to start a new one in new york city.
starting from zero in a foreign city as an immigrant wasn't easy. denise started to sell paintings on soho's streets where she met artist from different nationalities but in a similar situation. after some ups and downs, she got her first full time job in new york working in a commercial gallery making reproductions with other immigrant artists mostly chinese and russian. after september 11th, the economic situation in the u.s. showed its effects on the art world along with the entire economy. this, plus the low incentive her job provided, she decided to quit. a week later she started to work in a frame store in manhattan, making paintings on commission. when the owner of the frame store saw her artwork, he offered her to be the first artist to exhibit at the art gallery he was planning to open in hells kitchen (midtown manhattan). the "subway series" was a success and new opportunities appeared. she started to exhibit soon in places such as the "cultural center julia de burgos" (harlem), "art gallery 216" (soho), dumbo art festival" (brooklyn), "consulate of argentina art gallery" and participated in auctions in new jersey and brooklyn. little by little denise gained experience working in set design and art studios in manhattan (modern works novo arts, international art gallery, ghs, etc..). in the year 2004, she decided to start her own business painting murals in houses, schools and public spaces and freelancing as an illustrator, web designer and graphic designer. today after five years after her arrival in new york, denise lives in park slope (brooklyn) and has her studio in gowanus where she organizes her ideas for her next show while listening to some tango music that helps her connect her life in new york with the one she left behind in buenos aires.
education
2000 university of buenos aires, graphic designer. buenos aires, argentina
1999 national school of fine arts prilidiano pueyrredon. buenos aires, argentina
exhibitions
2006
road of silence . s.e.e.d gallery. new york, u.s.a
2005
the square foot show , art gotham gallery . new york, u.s.a
red argentina in ny, local project . new york, u.s.a
cae "the center for antiviolence education" silent auction. new york, u.s.a
comics exhibition, museum on natural science. buenos aires, argentina
open studio in the ny citywide open studios . new york, u.s.a
open studio at the "dumbo art festival". new york, u.s.a
2003
friends of shelter, silent auction. new york, u.s.a
1999
international group art show, "art gallery 54". new york, u.s.a
1998
el ohlo magico "centro cultural recoleta".buenos aires, argentina
solo exhibitions
2006
underground new york series, s.e.e.d gallery. new york, u.s.a
2005
door series , damn good noise.new york, u.s.a
2004
door series , consulate general of argentina in new york .new york, u.s.a
subway series ii, art gallery 216.new york, u.s.a
2002
subway series , art asap gallery .new york, u.s.a
from the other side, julia de burgos cultural center .new york, u.s.a
1999
fossils , el gato viejo ,carlos ragazzoni gallery .new york, u.s.a
1998
fossils, centro de capitanes de ultramar .new york, u.s.a
selected bibliography; articles and other texts
2006
el mundo subterraneo neoyorkino by juliana ortegon,
el diario la prensa, february 5th, 2006. new york, u.s.a
comics for "el olho magico" elenio pico - fabio zimbres . argentina / brazil
comics for "un buen corte" - pocket book. buenos aires, argentina
comics for "la cabula" ernan ciriani - comic magazine . buenos aires, argentina
illustration for the magazine "acido surtido"
residencies and grants
2006
art residency at instituto rural de arte la hoz del jucar . spain
art residency at global art village . delhi, india
gav grant for residency . delhi, india
fundacion karrvaz grant . spain