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 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.
se llamaba sombra 3, 2020 lightjet print 11.22 x 14.96 in.
se llamaba sombra 4, 2020 lightjet print 11.22 x 14.96 in.
se llamaba sombra 6, 2020 lightjet print 14.96 x 11.41 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 mage 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 mage 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
second place (tapestry), 1998 red gobelin 294 x 218 cm
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
His most important solo exhibitions include: Neuróticos anónimos, kurimanzutto, New York (2025); Materia Estética Disponible. Miguel Calderón, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2022); Materia Estética Disponible. Miguel Calderón, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2022); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Mexico (2021); Interrogatorio Inverso, Páramo Galería, Guadalajara, Mexico (2020); El placer después (Pleasure Afterwards), kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2019); Caída Libre, Luhring Augustine, New York (2017); Independientemente de con quien duerma, Fototeca Latinoamericana (FoLa), Buenos Aires (2017); Miguel Calderón: Color Bleed, Rochester Art Center, MN (2012); Miguel Calderón. Solo Project, Casa América, Madrid (2010); Conversations with a Tropical Vulture, with George Kuchar, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA (2010); Bestseller, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2009); Ridiculum Vitae, La Panadería, Mexico City (1998), among others.
Past group exhibitions include: 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 (2023); Equis, I Griega, Zeta, anonymous gallery, New York (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); The World’s Game: Fútbol and Contemporary Art, Pérez Art Museum, Miami (2018); Realidad programada: la vida y el arte en la televisión, Museo Jumex, Mexico City (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, Philadelphia (2015); Fútbol: The Beautiful Game, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (2014); América Latina 1960–2013, Fotos + Textos, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico (2014); and Fondation Cartier, Paris (2013); Antes de la resaca… Una fracción de los noventa de la Colección del MUAC, Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC-UNAM), Mexico City (2011); Dracula Effect: Art/Youth Cultures/Fetishism Youth, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City (2010); Interstices, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (mumok), Vienna, Austria (2009); Prospectif cinéma 2008–2009, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2008); Viva México! Long Live Mexico!, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2007); Freak Show – An Unnatural History, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England (2007); Escultura social: A New Generation of Art from Mexico City, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA Chicago) (2007); Distor, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City (2006); Ciudad de México: An Exhibibition About the Exchange Rates of Bodies And Values, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City (2002), among others.
Calderón has participated in various biennials, including: 7th International Photo-Triennial Esslingen, Germany (2007); Busan Biennale, South Korea (2006); Sharjah Biennial 7, United Arab Emirates (2005); Yokohama Triennale of Contemporary Art, Japan (2005); ARCO ‘98, Madrid (1998).
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.
