Patricia Van Dalen (Maracaibo, Venezuela) is a visual artist based in Miami, United States, with a career spanning four decades. Recognized as a key figure in Venezuelan art during the 1980s and 1990s, Van Dalen continues to maintain an active and prolific practice today. Her large-scale urban mural Jardín Lumínico (2004–2005) in Caracas is a landmark public work.

In 1977, Van Dalen completed a four-year graphic design degree at the Instituto de Diseño IDD, Fundación Neumann-INCE, in Caracas, Venezuela —a pioneering institution in design education and the visual arts in Latin America. Between 1980 and 1986, Van Dalen further developed her artistic practice by training and collaborating with artist Yaacov Agam in a groundbreaking visual education program in Paris, France. Since 2011, she has been based in the United States, where she continues her practice at her studio in Miami.

Van Dalen’s artwork has been the subject of several solo exhibitions such as Pinturas y dibujos, Galería Minotauro, Caracas, 1985; Patricia Van Dalen, Sala RG, Casa de Rómulo Gallegos, Caracas, 1991; Primavera, Sala Mendoza, Caracas, 1993; Casa/Jardín/Ventanas, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, 1998; Del cosmos al jardín, Museo de los Niños, Caracas, 1999; Luminous Gardens, Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, 2003; Color Fragmentado, Sala TAC, Caracas, 2008; Colección primavera-verano 2010, Galería La Cuadra, Caracas, 2010; El Color como Estructura: Ámbitos Expandidos at La Caja Centro Cultural Chacao and El Color como Estructura: Contingencias Modulares at Galería GBG Arts, both in Caracas, in 2012; and, more recently, High Voltage in 2013, and Ride the Rail in 2017, both at ArtMedia Gallery in Miami.

Additionally, special projects such as Operativo Grapas, a one-day interactive solo exhibition of the Engrapadas series, in Miami in 2016; Abstract Cabinet. Patricia Van Dalen and Emilio Narciso. Duo Project., at Imago Art in Miami, in 2018; (En)grapadas, a selection of stapled paper collages in Cesta República in Madrid, 2019; and the design of Iznik tiles for the Modern Tiles collection, at the Iznik Foundation Research Center in Iznik, Turkey. Also, she has created several bespoke hand-tufted rugs woven at Atelier Pinton for private collections in New York and Caracas.

She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, such as Bienal Nacional de Arte de Guayana, Salon Aragua and Salón Michelena, in Venezuela; Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui, in Paris, France; Novos Valores da Arte Latino-Americana, in Brasilia; the Bienal de Estandartes, in Tijuana, Mexico; and Bienal Barro de América Roberto Guevara, in Venezuela and Brazil. The most recent group exhibitions are For Now: Contemporary Venezuelan Art from de Miami Diaspora, held at the Coral Gables Museum in 2019, Referencias cruzadas. Arte Contemporáneo de Venezuela, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Panamá, in 2020, and the IV Triennial Art in Golf, Arte FITS Foundation, Puerto Rico, in 2021.

In addition to her extensive work on canvas and paper showcased in private and public collections internationally, Van Dalen has created numerous site-specific sculptural installations, primarily in Venezuela and the United States. Notable installations include Luminous Gardens (2003) at Fairchild Tropical Garden, Fragmented Light (2011) at the University of Georgia’s Miller Learning Center, Natural Intersections (2014) at The Kampong Botanical Garden, DataHall (2014) for the Institute for Data Science and Computing at the University of Miami, and Compass (2022) at The Society of The Four Arts in Palm Beach, FL, as the 2022-2023 Beyer Artist in Residence.

The use of media in her body of work ranges from painting, drawings, collages, prints, assemblage, photography, and sewings to the design of stained glass, tapestries, and rugs. Her interest in the intervention of architectural spaces is similarly evident in permanent works created for private residences in Venezuela and the US, as well as public murals in Caracas, such as the urban-scale mural Jardín Lumínico, and the mural Pajaritos, both in ceramic; and in eastern Venezuela, the mosaic floor of the Jardín de Calas plaza, in Río Caribe.

She has earned various awards throughout her career, including the Second Prize at the II Biennale of Visual Arts Christian Dior, Caracas, 1991; the First Prize at the I Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales, Caracas, 1992; the Unique Prize at the 2001 competition for the commission of a large scale mural along the Prados del Este Highway, in Caracas; and the 2010 Established Artist AICA Award by the International Association of Art Critics, Venezuela Chapter.

Van Dalen has taught at the Instituto de Diseño Foundation, the School of Architecture of the Central University of Venezuela, and the Villa Planchart Foundation, among others, in Caracas. She teaches workshops in educational and cultural institutions in Miami, such as the Miami Dade College and the Museum of Art and Design MOAD-MDC. In 2023, she conducted a series of workshops on “(Re)Creating Modern Masterpieces” at The Society of The Four Arts in Palm Beach as the 2022-2023 Beyer Artist-in-Residence.

As an abstract artist, Van Dalen explores the poetics of structures in her work through the fragmentation that affects form, line, surface, space, and color.