miguel calderón
1971, Mexico City
Miguel Calderón is regarded as a seminal figure in Mexico’s independent art scene. His pieces often make use of a dark sense of humor, but at the same time they explore deep social and personal territories, taking advantage of what is available in order to create low budget films and videos. His multidisciplinary practice focuses on exploring power relations both in interpersonal (often family) relationships, and also between different groups in society. He draws satirical portraits – while always being respectful towards marginalized figures – depicting Mexico’s society, which is defined by rigid class-based hierarchies. His work is often unified by an underlying sense of theatricality that questions the fine line between reality and fiction. His films are frequently cast from the perspective of an outsider, allowing Calderón to highlight the macabre complexity of what it means to be human by deftly weaving together mockery, social critique and straightforward emotions. He creates works from a wide range of vernacular references, employing a variety of mediums, including video, photography, sculpture and painting.
Calderón received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) in 1994. He has been the recipient of the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2025), Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Grants & Commissions Program (2013), the MacArthur Fellowship for Film-Video-New Media (2000), and the Bancomer/Rockefeller Fellowship (1995).
Calderón currently lives and works in Mexico City.
miguel calderón
se llamaba sombra 3, 2020
lightjet print
28.5 x 38 cm (11.22 x 14.96 in.)
miguel calderón
se llamaba sombra 4, 2020
lightjet print
28.5 x 38 cm (11.22 x 14.96 in.)
miguel calderón
se llamaba sombra 6, 2020
lightjet print
28.5 x 38 cm (11.22 x 14.96 in.)
cibeles 1, 2018 digital print 20.55 x 28.54 in
cibeles 3, 2018 digital ink jet 11.5 x 15.55 in.
disasters of peace, 2017 digital ink jet print 33.07 x 46.06 in.
camaleón, 2017 video still
camaleón, 2017 video still
camaleón, 2017 video still
in the open 1, 2012 inkjet print image 39 3/8 x 70 7/8 in.
color scheme gray, 2012 digital ink jet print 48.82 x62.8 in.
in the open 2, 2012 inkjet print image 39 3/8 x 70 7/8 in.
triángulo perfecto, 2010 inkjet print 16.93 x 16.93 in.
triángulo perfecto, 2010 inkjet print 16.93 x 16.93 in.
triángulo perfecto, 2010 inkjet print 16.93 x 16.93 in.
best-seller (mindbend), 2009 digital print 44.88 x 67.72 in.
best-seller (dark horse), 2009 digital print 44.88 x 67.72 in.
best-seller (the beast must die), 2008 digital print33 x 46 in.
swiss finger, 2010 12.4 x 12.4 in.
acapulco 79, 2008 digital print 55.12 x 70.87 in.
los pasos del enemigo, 2006 video transferred to dvd 5:39 min.
chapultepec #4, 2003 inkjet print 20.47 x 27.95 in.
chapultepec #7, 2003 inkjet print 20.47 x 27.95 in.
chapultepec #12, 2003 inkjet print 20.47 x 27.95 in.
secundaria #4, 2003 inkjet print 8.66 x 30.71 in.
secundaria #5, 2003 inkjet print 8.66 x 40.16 in.
secundaria #6, 2003 inkjet print 19.69 in.
empleado del mes #1, 1998 inkjet printImage 55.12 x 36.85 in.
empleado del mes #3, 1998 inkjet print 55.12 x 36.85 in.
empleado del mes #7, 1998 inkjet printImage 55.12 x 36.85 in.
moribundo, 1999 installation, variable dimensions
tapiz, 1998. red gobelin. 115.75 x 85.83 in.
taxímetro, 1997 digital print 25.2 in.
lengthtriple exposure #4, 1987-1991 inkjet print 23.23 x 34.65 in.
triple exposure #10, 1987-1991 inkjet print 25.98 x 19.29 in.
triple exposure #21, 1987-1991 inkjet print 12.99 x 16.93 in.
installation view miguel calderón: neurotics anonymous, kurimanzutto new york, 2025. photo: zach hyman
installation view miguel calderón: neurotics anonymous, kurimanzutto new york, 2025. photo: zach hyman
installation view miguel calderón: neurotics anonymous, kurimanzutto new york, 2025. photo: zach hyman
installation view materia estética disponible, museo tamayo, 2022. photo: gerardo landa estudio
installation view materia estética disponible, museo tamayo, 2022. photo: gerardo landa estudio
installation view materia estética disponible, museo tamayo, 2022. photo: gerardo landa estudio
installation view materia estética disponible, museo de arte contemporáneo de monterrey (marco), 2021
installation view materia estética disponible, museo de arte contemporáneo de monterrey (marco), 2021
installation view materia estética disponible, museo de arte contemporáneo de monterrey (marco), 2021
installation view el placer después, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2019. photo: gerardo landa estudio
installation view el placer después, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2019. photo: gerardo landa estudio
installation view el placer después, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2019. photo: gerardo landa estudio
installation view caída libre (free fall), gral. manuel f. loera 42, mexico city, 2017
installation view caída libre (free fall), gral. manuel f. loera 42, mexico city, 2017
installation view caída libre (free fall), luhring augustine bushwick, new york, 2017. photo: farzad owrang
installation view miguel calderón, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2006
installation view miguel calderón, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2006
installation view miguel calderón, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2006
installation view miguel calderón, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2006
installation view forcing forces of nature, andrea rosen gallery, 2003
installation view forcing forces of nature, andrea rosen gallery, 2003
Solo exhibitions include: Neuróticos Anónimos, kurimanzutto, New York (2025); Materia estética disponible, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Mexico (2021); traveled to Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2022); El placer después (Pleasure Afterwards), kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2019); Independientemente de con quien duerma, as part of México Contemporáneo, Fototeca Latinoamericana (FoLa), Buenos Aires (2017); Caída libre, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2017); Color Bleed, Rochester Art Center, Minnesota (2012); Solo Project, Casa de América, Madrid (2010); Tropical Vulture, as part of PAUSE :: Practice and Exchange, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), San Francisco (two-person exhibition with George Kuchar) (2009); Bestseller, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2009); Joven entusiasta, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (1998); Ridiculum Vitae, La Panadería, Mexico City (1998), among others.
Group exhibitions include: Fue de día, fue de tarde, fue fantástico, Fundación Casa de México en España, Madrid (2026); Telenovela, Americas Society, New York (2026); Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) (2026); People Make This Place: SFAI Stories, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) (2025); Un inventario insólito: diálogos con el surrealismo, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2024); GUT_BRAIN 1: Destructive Desires and Other Destinies of Excess, Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada (2023); Imperios de lo Plural, Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Mexico (2022); Excepciones normales: Arte contemporáneo en México, Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2021); OTRXS MUNDXS, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2020); Realidad programada: La vida y el arte en la televisión, Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2018); The World’s Game: Fútbol and Contemporary Art, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) (2018); La Ciudad de México en el arte. Travesía de ocho siglos, Museo de la Ciudad de México (2017); Strange Currencies: Art & Action in Mexico City, 1990–2000, The Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2015); Fútbol: The Beautiful Game, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (2014); América Latina 1960–2013, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris (2013); traveled to Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico (2014); Antes de la resaca… Una fracción de los noventa en la colección del MUAC, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Mexico City (2011); Efecto Drácula / Comunidades en transformación, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City (2010); Zwischenzonen, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (mumok), Austria (2009); Viva Mexico! Long live Mexico!, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2007); Escultura Social: A New Generation of Art from Mexico City, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA Chicago) (2007); traveled to Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (2009); Freakshow – An Unnatural History, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom (2007); Distor, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City (2006); Eco: arte contemporáneo mexicano, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2005); Mexico City: An Exhibition about the Exchange Rates of Bodies and Values, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York (2002); traveled to KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2002); Ultrabaroque: Aspects of Post-Latin American Art, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), California (2000); traveled to Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas (2001); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) (2001); Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2002); Miami Art Museum (2002); and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2002); En crudo, Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL), Mexico City (1998), among others.
Calderón has participated in various biennials and triennials, including: 7. Internationale Foto-Triennale Esslingen, Germany (2007); Everywhere, Busan Biennale 2006, South Korea (2006); Art Circus (Jumping from the Ordinary), Yokohama Triennale 2005, Japan (2005); Belonging, Sharjah Biennial 7, United Arab Emirates (2005).
The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO) presents Materia Estética Disponible, a curatorial revisión of the last three decades in the work of Miguel Calderón (Mexico City 1971).
kurimanzutto is proud to announce the group exhibition: Normal Exceptions: Contemporary Art in Mexico in Museo Jumex in which Abraham Cruzvillegas, Daniel Guzmán, Damián Ortega, Eduardo Abaroa, Gabriel Kuri, Gabriel Orozco, Iñaki Bonillas, and Miguel Calderón participate.
kurimanzutto is proud to participate in Art Basel OVR: Miami Beach 2020 featuring a selection of works by: Gabriel Orozco, Nairy Baghramian, Haegue Yang, Jimmie Durham, Damián Ortega, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Carlos Amorales, Roberto Gil de Montes, Wilfredo Prieto, Miguel Calderón.
A River Waits Reply is a selection of videos developed by seven artistic organizations from different countries in order to present videos from various parts of the world as a poetic response to this unprecedented year.
art+château presents El Castillo de las junglas imposibles (The Castle of the Impossible Jungles), its first-ever exhibitio in the historic setting of the Château de Serrigny in Burgundy. The show features 14 artists from Latin America, including Miguel Calderón.
Listen to the playlist Punk: sus rastros en el arte contemporáneo by Daniel Guzmán, Dr. Lakra and Miguel Calderón on Spotify.
Listen to the playlist Caída Libre by Miguel Calderón on Spotify.
