Food is a central theme in the works of Audrey Rodriguez, as the artist examines its relationships to “culture, identity, connection, and the socioeconomic divide in this country.” Her paintings depict, and are inspired by, the street vendors of New York City, people who, to Rodriguez, represent “artists of survival,” people who display “invention and resourcefulness only achieved through creativity.” For the artist, food is a commodity that serves as a link to place, family, and home. In her paintings, the food carts and stalls serve as places of gathering for patrons and the families of vendors, sharing moments of exchange and community.
Born and raised in South Texas, Audrey Rodriguez graduated with a BA in art education from The University of Texas at Brownsville. She moved to New York City to study drawing and painting at the Grand Central Atelier and Art Students League and earned an MFA from the New York Academy of Fine Art in 2022. Her art has been exhibited in exhibitions around New York City and the greater United States and internationally, including in Denmark and Korea. She was a 2023 nominee for the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant and is a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, the Post Graduate Chubb Fellowship (New York Academy of Art), First Prize winner of the 2021 AXA Art Prize, and the Allied Artists of America Award. She currently teaches in the illustration department at the Fashion Institute of Technology and painting at The Art Center.
Rodriguez resides in Brooklyn, New York.
Instagram: audweepaints
