The modern Olympic Games in its early beginnings considered the highest state of man, or the ideal of man, to be well versed in body and mind. As a result of this, from 1912 ­- 1952 art was considered an Olympic practice. Medals were awarded to artists just as they are to athletes [...] I would like to think that [artists and atheletes] share an element of purity. They are pure in the sense that he who is an athlete and he who is an artist has a highly intrinsic motivation for practicing their discipline, and that because of this element the product of their efforts embody expression. They also have a comparable way of working towards their goals, the artist works to achieve a harmonious manipulation of medium through research and experimentation, as does the athlete aim to achieve a harmonious manipulation of his body through training. Artist and athlete require discipline and knowledge of technique, but this can only take them so far; from there, the ability to respond and improvise to situations as they appear is essential and conducive to new knowledge. This ability for improvisation and controlled spontaneity comes as a result of preparation.

- Magdalena Paz, “The Potential of Art in Enriching our Experiences and Deepening our Level of Understanding in Disciplines Other than the Arts," 2017

Magdalena Paz (b. 1990, Santiago, Chile)

Magdalena Paz was born in Santiago, Chile, but had a multi-cultural upbringing in Nigeria, Argentina, Venezuela, Egypt, Russia, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. She is a interdisciplinary artist and athlete. Her abstract paintings, acts of practice and game, use soccer as a universal language to express ideas on awareness, memory, and identity. In the United States, she received her B.F.A. as a transfer student from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA in 2012. Between schools, she received sculpture and portraiture training from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago, Chile in 2010. Upon moving to Germany in 2013, she received another B.F.A. in Illustration from the Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule (Berlin Technical Art Academy). She has shown in solo and group exhibitions internationally including: ExGirlfriend Gallery, Berlin (2023); Chilean Conexión at Monopol, Berlin (2021); Stephanuskirche, curated by Igor Zaide, Berlin (2021); Casa Tiber 59, Mexico City (2018), White Page Art Happenings, Mexico City (2018), Galeria Fauna, Santiago (2018), Galerie Tabak, Zurich (2016), Neubad Luzern, Zurich (2016), among others. Eleven of her large-scale works commissioned by the Avo Brothers can be found in two permanent locations in Milan, Italy. She currently lives, plays soccer for Hertha 03 in the regional German league, and works in her studio in Berlin, Germany.

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