jennifer allora & guillermo calzadilla
1974, Philadelphia, United States & 1971, Havana, Cuba
Over the past twenty years, Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla have developed an expansive and experimental body of work. Through sculpture, performance, video, sound and photography in varying combinations, they evoke contemporary geopolitics, cultural artifacts and the ‘deep time’ of archaeological history. They give meaning to their artistic research by delving into and questioning the structural and narrative conventions of storytelling and the potential of language and materiality. Allora & Calzadilla studied the cooperative and catalytic nature of impromptu collective drawing with ephemeral materials, at the Lima biennial in Peru (Chalk [Lima], 1998–2002); the imprints of colonial, nationalist, and military violence on the diverse populations and landscapes of Vieques, Puerto Rico (Landmark, 2001–2002); and the resonance of playing, warping, and combining music from various moments in history (Clamor, 2006; Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on “Ode to Joy” for a Prepared Piano, 2008; and Raptor’s Rapture, 2012). Their projects challenge viewers to build meaning through a literal, metaphorical, evidential and political reading of the work, and also to participate, as an experience that heightens aesthetic sensibility.
Jennifer Allora received her BA from the University of Richmond in Virginia (1996) and MS from MIT- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2003); Guillermo Calzadilla completed his BFA from the Escuela de Artes Plásticas in Puerto Rico (1996) and MFA from Bard College in New York (2001). Collaborating since 1995, Allora & Calzadilla have been the recipients of numerous grants and awards, from foundations such as the Gwangju Biennial (2004); Penny McCall Foundation (2003); Joan Mitchell Foundation (2002) and the Cintas Fellowship (2002-2001). In 2006 they were finalists for both the Hugo Boss Prize and the Nam June Paik Award.
Allora & Calzadilla live and work in San Juan, Puerto Rico
puerto rican light (cueva vientos), 2015
solar-powered batteries and charger, plywood crate
installation view in el convento, natural protected area, puerto rico, 2015–2017
penumbra, 2020
digital projection with sound
dimensions variable and
etelechy, 2020
coal, vocalists
434.9 x 950.5 x 1476.4 cm
installation view of allora & calzadilla: specters of noon, menil collection, 2020-2021
graft, 2019
recycled polyvinyl chloride and paint
dimensions variable
installation view of allora & calzadilla: specters of noon, menil collection, 2020-2021
blackout, 2020
power transformer, bronze, electricity, vocalists
306.1 × 217.2 × 200 cm
installation view of allora & calzadilla: specters of noon, menil collection, 2020-2021
blackout, 2020
power transformer, bronze, electricity, vocalists
306.1 × 217.2 × 200 cm and
cadastre, 2019
iron filings on linen
overall: 182.9 × 2133.6 cm, each: 182.9 × 304.8 cm
installation view of allora & calzadilla: specters of noon, menil collection, 2020-2021
manifest, 2020
bat and bird guano
side A: 449.6 × 208.3 × 99.1 cm, side B: 449.6 × 208.3 × 99.1 cm
installation view of allora & calzadilla: specters of noon, menil collection, 2020-2021
the great silence, 2014
three-channel hd video, color, sound
text by ted chiang
A selection of their most notable projects and recent exhibitions include: Chalk, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, United States (2019); Blackout. Allora & Calzadilla, MAXXI, Rome (2018); Unspecified Promise, Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, United States (2017); Allora & Calzadilla: Echo to Artifact, Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA), Edmonton, Canada (2016); Puerto Rican Light (Cueva Vientos), a DIA Art Foundation commission in the Southern Coast of Puerto Rico (2015); Intervals, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fabric Workshop and Museum, United States (2014); Fault Lines, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi at the Palazzo Cusani, Milan, Italy (2013); Gloria, US Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennial (2011); Performance 9: Allora & Calzadilla, MoMA- Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010); Allora & Calzadilla, Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Norway (2009); Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on “Ode to Joy” for a Prepared Piano, Haus der Kunst München, Munich, Germany (2008); Never Mind That Noise You Heard, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2008); Clamor, Serpentine Gallery, London (2007); Allora & Calzadilla, Kunsthalle Zürich, Switzerland (2007); Wake Up, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, United States (2017); Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, S.M.A.K.-Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent, Belgium (2006); Land Mark, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2006).
Their work has also been curated into numerous group exhibitions at institutions such as: Centre Pompidou, Paris (2019); The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (2018); National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul, South Korea (2017); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), (2017); an exhibition by Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA at Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles (2017); South London Gallery, United Kingdom (2016); MAMM-Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia (2016); Royal Academy of Arts, London (2016); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2014); Guggenheim Museum, New York (2014); Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (2013); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León MUSAC, Spain (2011); Princeton University Art Museum, United States (2010); The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada (2010); Aspen Art Museum, United States (2010); Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil (2009); New Museum, New York (2008); Museion - museo d’arte moderna e contemporanea di Bolzano, Italy (2008); Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, United States (2007); Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, United States (2007); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2007); Grand Palais, Paris (2006); Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, (2006), among many others.
Allora & Calzadilla have also participated in various international biennials, notably: Sharjah Biennial 13, Tamawuj, United Arab Emirates (2017); International Art Exhibition at the 56th Venice Biennial (2015); 10th and 7th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2014 and 2008); 9a and 6a Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2013 and 2007); 30th Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Slovenia (2013); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012); 12. and 10. Istanbul Biennial, Turkey (2011 and 2007); 29a and 14a Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2010 and 1998); 16th Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2008); 9e Biennale de Lyon, France (2007); 1st and 2nd Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art (2005 and 2007); Sharjah Biennial 8, United Arab Emirates (2007); Whitney Biennial 2006, New York; the International Art Exhibition at the 51st Venice Biennial (2005); 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangzhou, China (2005); 6e Biennale de l’Art africain contemporain, DAK’ART, Dakar, Senegal (2004); III Bienal Iberoamericana de Lima, Peru (2002); 8 Bienal de la Habana, Havana, Cuba (2000).
neue nationalgalerie
The Menil Collection presents a major exhibition of seven sculptural works by the artists Allora & Calzadilla that revolve around this concept, serving as a manifestation of noon’s hold over humankind and as a metaphor for the uncertainties defining our time.
The Willfulness of Objects presents a selection of works from The Bass’ collection, many newly acquired, by artists who utilize found, altered, recycled, or transformed everyday objects as their materials to explore facets of human nature, history, and the surrounding environment.
On the Razor’s Edge is an international exhibition that brings together works within four thematic sections: migration and liberty; the human body; its environment; and the irrepressible and forever incomplete passage of time.
Read Allora & Calzadilla's interview about their work, ideas and inspirations.
Using a poetic and scientific approach, Allora & Calzadilla create an installation that transcends borders that provokes a subtle but powerful visualization of the ecological crisis that we all must collectively face.
Providing the title to the exhibition, The Bell, the Digger, and the Tropical Pharmacy (2013) spectacularly documents the demolition of one of the largest US-owned pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico, an event that is emblematic of the island’s highly asymmetrical political and economic framework of colonial exceptionality, defined by the reckless pace of capital flight in an “un-incorporated” territory and the low levels of corporate accountability in the exploitation of the region’s resources.
Human-size sticks of chalk—each 64 inches long and approximately 120 pounds—fill Gallery 7, which has been transformed into an environment open to spontaneous mark-making.
