miguel calderón
1971, Mexico City
Miguel Calderón is regarded as a seminal figure in Mexico’s independent art scene. His pieces often combine a dark sense of humor that is reconfigured into works that explore deep social and personal territories taking advantage of what is at hand to create low budget films and videos. His multidisciplinary practice focuses on exploring power relations, in interpersonal (often family) relationships as well as between different groups in society. He draws satirical portraits—always with a respectful regard for marginalized figures—depicting Mexico’s class society, defined by rigid hierarchies. His work often is unified by an ever-present sense of theatricality, questioning the fine line between reality and fiction. Frequently cast from the perspective of an outsider, he highlights the macabre complexity of our position as humans in the universe deftly weaving together mockery, social critique and straightforward emotions. He creates works from a mashup of vernacular references, employing a variety of media, including video, photography, sculpture, and painting.
Calderón received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1994. He has been the recipient of the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Grant & Commissions program (2013), The MacArthur Fellowship for Film and New Media (2000), and the Bancomer/Rockefeller Fellowship (1995).
Calderón currently lives and works in Mexico City.
taxímetro, 1997
digital print
25.2 in. length
employee of the month #1 & #4, 1998
digital print
79.75 x 50 in. each
employee of the month #2, 1998
digital print
80.1 x 50 in.
piece of the month, 1998
c-print
79 x 50 in.
el arte de la negociación, 1999
performance and installation
variable dimensions
ridiculum vitae, 2000
carpet
11.5 x 32.8 in
antifreeze, 2002
digital print
33 x 46 in.
inverted star / poseídos, 2002
video transferred to dvd
1:57 min
inverted star / poseídos, 2002
video transferred to dvd
1:57 min
the beast must die (bestseller), 2008
digital print
33 x 46 in.
mutante, 2002
temporary aquarium in the torre latinoamericana in mexico city, mexico displaying fish from chapultepec lake
secundaria #1 & #2, 2003
digital print
19.69 in. length each
secundaria #2 & #7, 2003
digital print
19.69 in. length
chapultepec #8, 2003
digital print
26.75 x 39.75 in.
chapultepec #7, 2003
digital print
35.8 x 53.1 in.
chapultepec #4, 2003
digital print
26.97 x 39.76 in.
letreros #1, 2006
digital print
44.88 x 67.72 in.
letreros #2, 2006
digital print
44.88 x 67.72 in.
los pasos del enemigo, 2006
video transferred to dvd
5:39 min
acapulco 79, 2008
digital print
55.12 x 70.87 in.
dedo suizo, 2010
digital print
31.5 x 31.5 in.
triángulo perfecto III, 2010
digital print
9.06 x 12.6 in.
triángulo perfecto I & II, 2010
digital print
12.2 x 10.63 in. each
in the open 2, 2012
digital print
39.37 x 59.06 in.
color scheme gold / color scheme gold, 2012
digital print
38.58 x 50 in. each
color scheme haws, 2012
digital print
38.58 x 50 in. each
crack, 2012
public sculpture, series of 12 photographs
variable dimensions
disasters of peace, 2017
digital ink jet print
33.07 x 46.06 in.
el placer después, 2019
4k resolution video transferred to blu-ray, 16:9 aspect ratio
30 min
camaleón, 2017
digital video
26:30 min
camaleón, 2017
digital video
26:30 min
desastres 3, 2014-2019
digital print
11.61 x 14.76 in.
pantalla hipnótica, 2018
four projection screens
137.4 x 86.61 x 39.37 in.
cibeles 1, 2018
digital print
19.69 in. length
amuletos para un temblor, 2019
gas cylinder and jewelry made of silver, thread and dog kibbles
variable dimensions
aparición amarilla, 2019
watercolor on paper
11.81 x 17.91 in.
untitled, 2019
watercolor on paper
11.81 x 17.91 in.
el pájaro australiano, 2 / untitled, 2019
watercolor on paper
1) 11.8 x 17.9 in.
2) 11.81 x 9.06 in.
His most important solo exhibitions include: 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: 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, FL (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, PA (2015); Fútbol: The Beautiful Game, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), CA (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), IL (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, NY (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.
