fernando ortega
1971, Mexico City
Fernando Ortega’s practice is difficult to classify: largely concerned with poetic, serendipitous moments that arise from the processes of daily life, his pieces take on many forms. For Ortega, art making is an exploration of his own doubts and curiosities about the mysteries he encounters in the world. The emotional and conceptual residue of these confrontations has an understated, latent potential that can be felt and glimpsed in his practice. Through installation, performance, and sound, he modifies spaces, stages actions and works with materials as diverse as spider webs and construction cranes. In his projects, the idea of spectacle generally associated with galleries and museums is transported outside the exhibition space into a day-to-day realm, where the subtleties of the mundane and neglected take the center stage. The notion of chance understood as a lack of order and predictability, has also played a major role in his explorations. Many of Ortega’s works balance gracefully between visibility and invisibility: they examine the relative scale and permanence of materials; and explore our human relationship to time and how it informs our experience of the world.
Fernando Ortega lives and works in Mexico City
let me introduce myself, 2000
silver gelatin print
62.99 x 94.49 in.
out of tune, tuned, 2005
set of two digital prints
15.75 x 23.62 in.
this intervention is documented on the book: for those who do not listen to me by fernando ortega, edited by the bonner kunstverein and revolver, germany, 2005
untitled, 2003
fly-killing device synchronized with the power supply of the room, provoking a momentary black out in the space each time a fly gets electrocuted
50 x 23 x 6.25 in.
open microphone, 2013
digital print
40.35 x 50.95 in.
fifteen squeaks less, 2004
silver gelatin print (set of seven)
4.53 x 5.91 in.
fifteen squeaks less, 2004
silver gelatin print (set of seven)
4.53 x 5.91 in.
fifteen squeaks less, 2004
silver gelatin print (set of seven)
4.53 x 5.91 in.
fifteen squeaks less, 2004
silver gelatin print (set of seven)
4.53 x 5.91 in.
leak 1, 2005
metallic watercolor box and leak in the ceiling
leak 2, 2008
fan, snare drum and leak in the ceiling
variable dimensions
new balance, 2007
wooden board, glass and digital print
new balance, 2007
wooden board, glass and digital print (detail)
seconds after the dive, 2005
scaffolding and framed postcard at the end of the trail
scaffolding: variable dimensions
seconds after the dive, 2005
scaffolding and framed postcard at the end of the trail
scaffolding: variable dimensions
seconds after the dive, 2005
scaffolding and framed postcard at the end of the trail
scaffolding: variable dimensions
seconds after the dive, 2005
scaffolding and framed postcard at the end of the trail (detail)
scaffolding: variable dimensions
simultaneous translation, 2011
set of two digital prints
16.93 x 25.2 in.
piano, 2008
digital print
11.3 x 7.48 in.
harmonic variations, 2013
set of four pieces of glass and harmonicas
harmonic variations, 2013
set of four pieces of glass and harmonicas (detail)
second chance I, 2013
champagne bottle with cork and no wire protector, cricket, pin
12.6 x 3.54 x 3.54 in.
second chance I, 2013
champagne bottle with cork and no wire protector, cricket, pin
12.6 x 3.54 x 3.54 in.
installation view after bottle exploded
adagio sostenuto, 2013
acoustic guitar with copper strings, high voltage energizer (12500 volts) and electric wire
40.55 x 37.01 x 4.8 in. guitar; 11.42 x 9.84 x 3.54 in. energizer
adagio sostenuto, 2013
acoustic guitar with copper strings, high voltage energizer (12500 volts) and electric wire (detail)
40.55 x 37.01 x 4.8 in. guitar; 11.42 x 9.84 x 3.54 in. energizer
n. clavipes meets s. erard, mov. 1, 2008
digital print
35.43 x 23.62 in.
n. clavipes meets s. erard, mov. 2, 2008
digital print
35.43 x 23.62 in.
n. clavipes meets s. erard, mov. 3, 2008
digital print
35.43 x 23.62 in.
untitled 1, 2013
digital print
71.65 x 54.92 in.
untitled 2, 2013
digital print
71.65 x 54.92 in.
untitled 3, 2013
digital print
71.65 x 54.92 in.
new balance, 2010
digital print
13.39 x 20.08 in.
short cut I, 2010
digital print
18.02 x 23.85 in. framed
short cut II, 2010
digital print
18.02 x 23.85 in. framed
assisted levitation, 2008
a crane, 98 ft high with a 164 ft arm, was especially erected to hold a hummingbird feeder visible through the window of an empty hall on the second floor of the museo de arte carrillo gil.
assisted levitation, 2008
a crane, 98 ft high with a 164 ft arm, was especially erected to hold a hummingbird feeder visible through the window of an empty hall on the second floor of the museo de arte carrillo gil.
para xó, 2002
video
4:07 min
para xó, 2002
video
4:07 min
narrow day, 2011
video
4:54 min
narrow day, 2011
video
4:54 min
it's no game, 2008
video
2:30 min
it's no game, 2008
video
2:30 min
stolen time, 2017
video
10:40 min
stolen time, 2017
video
10:40 min
His most important solo exhibitions include: Manicure, as part of Siembra, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2021); Nota Rosa, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2016); Fernando Ortega, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012); Fernando Ortega, Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte (MUCA), Mexico City (2008); Levitación asistida, Museo de Arte Carillo Gil, Mexico City (2008); Recital de piano, Casa del Lago Juan José Arreola | UNAM, Mexico City (2008); Winter Falls, Bonner Kunstverein und Artothek, Bonn, Germany (2008); Project Room, ARCO 04, Madrid (2004); Intervención sonora, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City (2000); Resumen, Fundación Ludwig de Cuba, La Havana (1998).
He has also participated in the following group exhibitions: TODOS JUNTOS (All Together), kurimanzutto, New York, NY (2022); El verano que nunca fue (Videos de la Colección CIAC), Laboratorio Arte Alameda (LAA), Mexico City (2022); A Show about Nothing, By Art Matters, Hangzhou, China (2021); Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection (2020), Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Okayama Art Summit, Japan (2019); Modos de Oír, Ex-Teresa Arte Actual, Laboratorio de Arte Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico (2018); Reverberaciones: arte y sonido en las colecciones del MUAC, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City (2017); The Transported Man, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum (MSU Broad), Michigan, United States (2017); Punto de partida.Colección Isabel y Agustín Coppel, Sala de Arte Fundación Banco Santander, Madrid (2017); More Than Just Words [On the Poetic], Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (2017); Variaciones sobre tema mexicano. Arte Torre Iberdrola, Bilbao, Spain (2016); Strange Currencies: Art & Action in Mexico city 1990-2000, The Galleries at Moore, Philadelphia, United States (2015); Season 8: Pierre Huyghe, The Artist’s Institute, New York (2014); El testigo del siglo, Museo de Arte Zapopan, Mexico (2014); When Attitudes Became Form Become Attitudes, MOCAD Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, United States (2013) and CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, United States (2012); El cazador y la fábrica, Fundación Colección Jumex, Mexico City (2013); All of This and Nothing, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2011); Mexico: Expected / Unexpected - collection Isabel et Agustín Coppel, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, United States (2011) and La maison rouge, Paris (2008); The Moon is an Arrant Thief, David Roberts Art Foundation DRAFT, London (2010); among others.
His work has also been a part of the following biennials: 14e Biennale de Lyon, France (2017); 11th SP-Arte – São Paulo International Art Festival, Brazil (2015); 13. İstanbul Bienali, Turkey (2013); 30a, 27a, and 25a Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2012, 2006, and 2002, respectivly); Biennial of the Americas, Denver, United States (2010); Biennale Cuvée 08, Linz, Austria (2008); 50th Venice Biennial (2003).
laboratorio arte alameda presents el verano que nunca fue
Okayama Art Summit is an international exhibition of contemporary art that offers visitors the opportunity not only to see exciting exhibits but also to experience the thought processes of the artists.
