Orlando-based painter MJ Torrecampo is among the 10 artists in OMA's 2023 Florida Prize in Contemporary Art

click to enlarge

photo by Kierra Branker, Black Shell Studio

MJ Torrecampo

The Florida Prize in Contemporary Art exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art is a welcomed annual event among contemporary artists and the art-going public here in Central Florida. It validates and salutes bold artistic efforts made in our state by the young, the tenured, the marginalized and those whose work demands to be heard, all under one roof and within one show.

Orlando-based artist MJ Torrecampo is among those selected for this year's installment — 10 in total including Yosnier Miranda, Cara Despain, Denise Treizman, Elliot and Erick Jiménez, Magnus Sodamin, Reginald O'Neal, Peggy Levison Nolan, Amy Schissel and Akiko Kotani, who was awarded the $20,000 prize on opening night.

Torrecampo's inclusion as the only local artist brings to light the benefit that exhibits and events like the Florida Prize can do in the wake of OMA's ongoing Basquiat scandal, evidence that splits the good from the bad in true tempo with creative audiences: Don't Ask Me Where I'm From, the NFT exhibit Twentysomethings, Relentless Courage: Ukraine and the World at War and Platform, the much-needed facelift of the decades-old 1st Thursdays program.

After a well-received group show at the Art and History Museums in Maitland last year, Torrecampo's name and work have experienced an uptick in popularity among art-lovers in Central Florida. The scope of Torrecampo's work really hits home, evoking universal feelings: emotion-suffused depictions of family life and every bit of the unconditional love and frustration that comes with it. Orlando Weekly reached out to Torrecampo to ask about the experience and the work picked for the Florida Prize exhibit.

click to enlarge

© MJ Torrecampo / image courtesy of Orlando Museum of Art

MJ Torrecampo, "a mother and a matriarch"

Orlando Weekly: Routine pastimes like a card game, a child's party, sharing a snack or meal, take on new life through your style and perspective. Quite literally, it's the perspective that makes your work stunning, the overhead view. Could you elaborate on this?

MJ Torrecampo: I started using the overhead perspective because that's how I saw memories play out in my head — I saw it not through my eyes as I would in the present, but slightly out of body. It allows for both a sense of closeness to the narrative but also of being removed from it — like an outside observer. The body of work I'm exhibiting at OMA is biblical narratives relating to the life of Mary.

In the Florida Prize exhibit, you're the only local artist to be included this year. How does it feel to be a part of this exhibit?

I don't think I'm the first person from Orlando to ever be included, but I am the only one this year. I moved back to Orlando two years ago and saw the 2021 Florida Prize exhibition. I saw my former UCF professor Robert Rivers' installation and was completely in awe of its grandeur, and to now be a part of this annual exhibit, it's an immense honor. I may be biased but this year's lineup is incredible — it exhibits a diversity of what art can be, what it can look like and what we're all trying to discuss with our work. Akiko Kotani is so deserving of being awarded the Florida Prize, and I can't wait to visit her studio in Gulfport.

What's next for your own art practice?

I'm fairly new to the Central Florida art scene, but I hope my inclusion gives the community a reason to support local artists. I'm very grateful for the Art and History Museums in Maitland for their unwavering support and their residency program that allows me to have a studio space — where I made all the works for the Florida Prize. Up next, I have a solo show in Hong Kong at the end of the year, and I'm exhibiting some paintings in Miami for the art fairs in December. 

It's exciting to hear your work is getting out there to a wider world. All the more reason for the community to show support for you and the plethora of talent working here.

click to enlarge

© MJ Torrecampo / photo by Kierra Branker, Black Shell Studio

MJ Torrecampo, "what we bring and what we leave behind"

With the inclusion of Torrecampo, this year's Florida Prize is keeping a light on for the stimulating, the curious and the progressive in Orlando. You can never have too many hometown heroes.