sofía táboas
1968, Mexico City
Sofía Táboas investigates both natural and man-made space; how it is built and transformed, thought about and perceived. This interest is evident in the materials she uses in her sculptures and installations: artificial and live plants, mosaics, pool equipment, construction materials, plastic, light bulbs, and fire, among others. Her work creates a threshold, a boundary between elements that may be incongruent or seemingly irreconcilable, that serves to reinvent the borders of the public and the private, the inside and the outside. Táboas deftly manipulates space to create interactive structures and contexts where materials can be interpreted on new terms. Despite its seeming formal sobriety, her work is capable of creating habitats, such as floating gardens or underwater scenes, exploring new protozoan life, and give rise to new movement and perception exercises. Influenced by the Arte Povera and Neo-concrete movements, Táboas’ practice can be thought of as an archeology of the future, in which the use of common materials serves to breach the gap separating us from what is outside, of a distant tomorrow, surrounding the spectator with the familiar, in the here and now.
Sofía Táboas received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from UNAM, Mexico City (1986-1990). During the 90s, she was a founding member of the alternative space Temístocles 44 in Mexico City.
Sofía Táboas currently lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico
alberca para muro, 1999
plastic, paper mache, plaster, polyurethane, venice mosaic
alberca para muro, 1999
plastic, paper mache, plaster, polyurethane, venice mosaic
alberca semi-olímpica para muro, 2009
mosaic, plastic
variable dimensions
alberca semi-olímpica para muro, 2009
mosaic, plastic
variable dimensions
azul acapulco, 2000
mosaic, plaster, paper mache
31.5 in. diameter
dorso, 2011
venice mosaic, steel, cement, brick
35.43 x 78.74 x 47.24 in.
cinco jardines flotantes para cinco piedras, 2009
five stones and five floating gardens made out of plastic bins, plastic containers, rubber tires, wood, plastic bags with earth and plants
137.8 in. diameter
installation view at casa del lago, mexico city, 2009
cinco jardines flotantes para cinco piedras, 2009
five stones and five floating gardens made out of plastic bins, plastic containers, rubber tires, wood, plastic bags with earth and plants
137.8 in. diameter
installation view at casa del lago, mexico city
filtro lama, 2011
glass, 180 liters of water, light, algae, plastic
51.18 x 59.06 x 7.87 in.
filtro lama, 2011
glass, 180 liters of water, light, algae, plastic
51.18 x 59.06 x 7.87 in.
detail
filtro lama, 2011
glass, 180 liters of water, light, algae, plastic
51.18 x 59.06 x 7.87 in.
detail
doble turno, 1994
plastic balls, nylon
variable dimensions
installation view at muac museo de arte contemporáneo, mexico city
detail
doble turno, 1994
plastic balls, nylon
variable dimensions
detail at muac museo de arte contemporáneo, mexico city
espejo de agua, 1998
caramel, artificial edible colorant
variable dimensions
emulsión doméstica, 2005
wood, paint, bulb, plexiglass, steel
98.43 x 88.19 x 88.19 in.
emulsión doméstica, 2005
wood, paint, bulb, plexiglass, steel
98.43 x 88.19 x 88.19 in.
filtro ámbar, 2011
acrylic, steel wire, anodized aluminium
variable dimensions
espectro, 1993 - 2011
carpet, wood, engraved metal plate
variable dimensions
espectro, 1993 - 2011
carpet, wood, engraved metal plate
variable dimensions
instrucciones para tejer una flor, 2013
plastic fiber
218.11 x 217.32 in.
fuego enlatado con plan extraterrestre, 2001 - 2011
910 cans of alcohol
variable dimensions
fuego envasado, 2001
600 cans of alcohol on grass
variable dimensions
cosecha espacial, 2005
white neon, artificial plants
125.98 x 110.24 x 1.18 in. each module
expansión cósmica, 2005
aluminiun, acrylic, formica, steel wire
variable dimensions
germen voynich, 2005
wood
variable dimensions
germen voynich, 2005
wood
variable dimensions
jardín portátil, 2001
plants, wooden movable platform
78.74 x 78.74 in.
muro que se desprende, 2002 - 2011
four liters of glue, 20 kilos of glitter
variable dimensions
untitled (méxico), 2001
natural plants, water, nylon, plastic
variable dimensions
personal cage 1, 2013
welded and forged steel, matte black automotive paint
98.43 x 98.43 in.
personal cage 2, 2013
welded and forged steel, matte black automotive paint
98.43 x 98.43 x 98.43 in.
personal cage 3, 2013
welded and forged steel, matte black automotive paint
98.43 in. diameter
personal cage 4, 2013
welded and forged steel, matte black automotive paint
118.11 x 47.24 in.
permeabilidad translúcida (horizontes I), 2010 - 2011
india paper, water
19.29 x 28.74 in.
permeabilidad translúcida (horizontes IV), 2010-2011
india paper and water
19.29 x 28.74 in. each
trébol volcánico, 2006
obsidian
10.63 x 51.18 x 43.31 in.
muro de construcción, 2011
wood, metal, plaster, cement, stone, glass, mirror, ironworks, brick
installation: 78.74 x 188.98 x 7.87 in.; 7.87 x 7.87 x 7.87 in. each cube
muro de construcción, 2011
wood, metal, plaster, cement, stone, glass, mirror, ironworks, brick
installation: 78.74 x 188.98 x 7.87 in. each cube: 7.87 x 7.87 x 7.87 in.
Her most important exhibitions include: Intermediate Key, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2019); Azul sólido, Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos, Spain (2016); Sofía Táboas. Verde Terrestre, Galería Bacelos, Madrid, Spain (2015); Piedra Principio, Fundación RAC, Pontevedra, Spain (2014); Revisiones Superficies Límites, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City (2011); Cinco Jardines Flotantes Para Cinco Piedras, Casa de Lago Juan José Arreola, Mexico City (2009); Azul Pacífico, Casa Barragán, Mexico City (2008); Silvestre, Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City, (2002).
Additionally, she has participated in group exhibitions at the following institutions: FRAC Bourgogne in Dijon, France (2014); Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City (2013); Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) Long Beach, California, United States (2012); MUCA-UNAM (Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte), Mexico City, (2008); The Moore Building, Miami, United States (2002).
Two complementary exhibitions present the work of Sofía Táboas at the Jumex Museum starting on October 7, 2021.
Both explore the relationships between human and natural forces: Thermal Range does so through her individual trajectory and Ambient Temperature through the perspective she has on the work of her contemporaries.
Eduardo Abaroa, Sofia Táboas and a group of mexican artisans collaborated to mold and carve a collection of 53 sculptures of different dimensions, whose shapes correspond to plants, roots or animals, such as mandrakes, insects, birds-dolphins, flowers of different types, peyotes, artichokes, nopales, avocados, trees, sheep-dogs, scorpion worms, branches, a flying saucer, among many more at Museo Amparo in Puebla.
Listen Sofía Táboas' Spotify playlist Voces Agridulces.
