Carlos Aguirre

b. 1948, Acapulco, Mexico

Carlos Aguirre is one of the precursors of conceptual art in Mexico. Since the 70’s, installation art and experimentation with different materials have been a constant priority. He devoted many years to the artistic reinterpretation of every day language, exploring and evidencing its ambiguities. He has amassed an enormous collection of printed material which he feeds into beautifully conceived objects and installations that showcase his early formation as a designer. Aguirre experiments continuously with different techniques: photography, digital manipulation, traditional media. Through the use of technology he objectivises deeper meanings. The juxtaposition of press texts, especially in the discourse of different social, political and religious groups, turns him into a social activist more than an artist. More recently, the artist is working with complex installations which include digital resolutions and experimentation with lighting; a vast series in process titled “Islands” that coincides with his core project: language. During his daily walks, he looks for unexpected forms and lines created by inadvertent public spaces. He photographs multiple cracks in walls, branches of urban trees, spaces between buildings, and turns them into digital prints of invented geographic islands and oceans. Names of cities and towns, phrases, euphemisms and slang from his text collection appear. The words, primarily from national newspapers and the New York Times are meticulously recorded in notebooks that the artist treasures. Aguirre brings together text and lines, order and chaos into an innovative idea of design art. Aguirre has represented Mexico in different Biennales such as Paris, Sao Paulo and Havana. He obtained the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996 and is currently a member of the National System of Creators of the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (FONCA, Mexico). He has worked extensively in solo projects for some of the most prestigious contemporary art museums in Mexico, including MAM (Museum of Modern Art), MUAC (Contemporary Art National University Museum), Carrillo Gil Contemporary Art Museum, Siqueiros Public Exhibition Hall and the Museo del Chopo, as well as the National School of Fine Arts. Returning 30 years after his first solo show at the Museo de Art Moderno (MAM), Aguirre is currently exhibiting a large Retrospective “Zona de Riesgo” encapsulating four decades of his most socially and politically driven works in Mexico City. Puerta Roja represents Carlos Aguirre in Asia.

Puerta Roja |Shop 3, 1/F, SOHO 189, 189 Queen’s Rd West |Hong Kong [email protected] | +852 2803 0332 |www.puerta-roja.com © Copyright 2014 by Adriana Alvarez-Nichol. All rights reserved by Puerta Roja Limited. Hong Kong.

Curriculum Vitae Education 1966 – 1970 Industrial Design, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico Individual exhibitions 2015 Third Space, Puerta Roja, Hong Kong Art Jakarta, Puerta Roja, Jakarta, Indonesia Beyond Borders, Puerta Roja, Hong Kong Zona de Riesgo, Retrospactive Exhibition Museo de Art Moderno, Mexico City 2014 Outside the Lines, Puerta Roja, Hong Kong 2012 Vuelta Prohibida, curated by Lorena Marrón, Centro Cultural Acapulco Carlos Aguirre, Galería Patricia Conde, Mexico City, Mexico 2011 Arte experimental, Museo Laboratorio Alameda and Galeria Nina Menocal, curated by Karla Jasso, Cuidad de Galería Nina Menocal, Mexico City 2010 Oda a la mujer, Museo Modo, Mexico City, Mexico Sin palabras, Galería Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico

1975 – 1976 Master in Arts, Central School of Art and Design, London, UK

W dictionary, curated by Graciela Kasep, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado, USA 2009 Ohdios, ExTeresa Arte Actual, Mexico City, Mexico 2008 Imágenes Encontradas (salpicaderas), in collaboration with Urs Graf, curated by Daniela Wolf, Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros (SAPS), Mexico City, Mexico 2007 Zona de intolerancia, in collaboration with Lorena Wolffer, Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza - Estación del metro Centro Médico, project for Museo del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico Obra reciente, Galería Ada Dewes, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico 2006 Instalación interactiva con tema político, Pasagüero, Mexico City, Mexico Malas Palabras, Galeria Nina Menocal, Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (UNAM), Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico 2005

Puerta Roja |Shop 3, 1/F, SOHO 189, 189 Queen’s Rd West |Hong Kong [email protected] | +852 2803 0332 |www.puerta-roja.com © Copyright 2014 by Adriana Alvarez-Nichol. All rights reserved by Puerta Roja Limited. Hong Kong.

Punto de saturación, Celda Contemporánea, Mexico City, Mexico 2003 Sólo Palabras, Galería Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico

2002 El Eje del Mal, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico 2001 Obsolescencia Programada, curated by Ingrid Sukaer, Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispado, Mexico City, Mexico 2000 Ex - LIBRIS, Galeria Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico 1998 Carlos Aguirre, De Leon White Gallery, Toronto, Canada Solo Exhibition, Galería Saw, Ottawa, Canada 1997 Energía Solar, Arte in situ, La Torre de los Vientos, Mexico City, Mexico Naturaleza Muerta, Galería Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico 1996 Imágenes del Neoliberalismo II, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico 1995 Imágenes del Neoliberalismo, Galeria Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico

1994 Galería de Arte Mexicano Mexico City, Mexico

(GAM),

1993 Carlos Aguirre, Galería Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico Galería Metropolitana UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico 1991 Wenger Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA Galería de Arte Mexicano (GAM), Mexico City, Mexico 1990 Museo de Are Carrillo Gil (MACG), Mexico City, Mexico 1985 MAM (Museo de Mexico City, Mexico

Arte

Moderno),

1983 Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana, Cuba 1982 Centre Cultural du Mexique, Paris Galería de Arte Mexicano (GAM), Mexico City, Mexico 1981 MAM (Museo de Mexico City, Mexico

Arte

Moderno),

1978 San Carlos, Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas - UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico

Puerta Roja |Shop 3, 1/F, SOHO 189, 189 Queen’s Rd West |Hong Kong [email protected] | +852 2803 0332 |www.puerta-roja.com © Copyright 2014 by Adriana Alvarez-Nichol. All rights reserved by Puerta Roja Limited. Hong Kong.

Collective exhibitions 2015 Beyond Borders, Puerta Roja Gallery, Hong Kong 2014 Art Taipei, Puerta Roja Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan KIAF, Puerta Roja Gallery, Seoul, Korea Independence: The Cry of Dolores, Puerta Roja, Hong Kong Art Jakarta, Puerta Roja Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia Recollective 3, Puerta Roja, Hong Kong InSite: cuatro ensayos de lo político, sobre otro escenario, La Tallera, Cuernavaca, Mexico Circa 2000, Colección Pinto, Trieste, Italy 2013 Fronteritat, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain Notas contra Notas: una exposición en torno a José Clemente Orozco, curated by Carlos Aguirre and Carlos Palacios, MACG, Museo de Are Carrillo Gil (MACG), Mexico City, Mexico 2012 Tiempo de sospecha, MAM (Museo de Arte Moderno), Mexico City, Mexico Hacer Ciudad, Galería Metropolitana, UAM, Mexico City, Mexico 2010 Revolución, Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico

Espectrografías, MUAC (Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo), Mexico City, Mexico Cause Crítico, Galería Metropolitana, Mexico City, Mexico P. Villa por los Panchos Villa, Laboratorio de Arte Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico

2009 Un domingo en la Alameda 2009, Museo Mural Diego Rivera, Mexico City, Mexico Presuntos Culpables, MAM (Museo de Arte Moderno), Mexico City, Mexico 2008 Visiones: Arte latinoamericano del siglo XX, Boca Raton Museum of Art, South Beach, USA Old news, Museo de Are Carrillo Gil (MACG), Mexico City, Mexico Inventario, Museo de Are Carrillo Gil (MACG), Mexico City, Mexico 2007 Alter Ego, Galeria Mexico City, Mexico

Nina

Menocal,

2006 Rising Stars: North Latin Americans, curated by Daniela Wolf, Design District, Miami, USA Sedientos, Proyecto de arte contemporáneo mexicano, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico artistas citados, Galería Nina Menocal,

Puerta Roja |Shop 3, 1/F, SOHO 189, 189 Queen’s Rd West |Hong Kong [email protected] | +852 2803 0332 |www.puerta-roja.com © Copyright 2014 by Adriana Alvarez-Nichol. All rights reserved by Puerta Roja Limited. Hong Kong.

Mexico City, Mexico 2005 Xe Salón Bancomer: artéFACTS, Instituto de México en París, Paris, France wunderkammer I, Galeria Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico Xe Salón Bancomer, Armas y Herramientas, MAM (Museo de Arte Moderno), Mexico City, Mexico

2004 Libertad duradera. Aplican restricciones, curated by Laboratorio Curatorial 060, Museo de Are Carrillo Gil (MACG), Mexico City, Mexico 2003 México Iluminado, Reading, Sharadin Gallery, Kutztown University Pennsylvania, USA Freedman Gallery, Readin, Pennsylvania, USA 2002 Zebra Crossing, Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, Berlin, Germany Le Lieu, Quebec, Canada 2001 La Persistencia de la Imagen, Museo de Are Carrillo Gil (MACG), Mexico City, Mexico 2000 VI Salón de Arte Bancomer, Fundación Cultural Bancomer, Mexico City, Mexico Caleidoscopio: Lenguajes Contemporáneos, Bancomext Sinudet, Mexico City, Mexico

Exposición Colectiva, Galería Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico

Nina

1998 Xochitla Sitio Escultórico, curated by Nina Menocal and Paloma Porraz, Fundación Xochitla, Mexico City, Mexico XXIV Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Lido of Venice, Venice, Italy Expo Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal El Arsenal de la Buntilla, The Wood Street Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE, USA 1997 La Creación del Desperdicio, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Oaxaca, Mexico Collective Show, Sandra Gering Gallery, New York, USA México now: point of departure, Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, USA El Arsenal de la Buntilla, San Juan, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, USA 1996 El Cuerpo: objeto y sujeto de sus sueños y entorno, Fotoseptiembre, Galería Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico Arqueología del Silencio, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico Nuevo arte de Cuba y México, Galeria Nina Menocal, Mexico City, Mexico; David Floria Gallery, Aspen, Colorado, USA 1995 Homenaje a Elías Canetti, MAM (Museo de Arte Moderno), Mexico City, Mexico

1999 Puerta Roja |Shop 3, 1/F, SOHO 189, 189 Queen’s Rd West |Hong Kong [email protected] | +852 2803 0332 |www.puerta-roja.com © Copyright 2014 by Adriana Alvarez-Nichol. All rights reserved by Puerta Roja Limited. Hong Kong.

1994 XXV Aniversario de la Galería de Arte Metropolitano, Galería de Arte Metropolitano, Mexico City, Mexico V Bienal de La Habana, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana, Cuba In-SITE ‘94, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, USA Musée du Vieux Palais, St. Jerome, Quebec, Canada 1991 Art Center, Pasadena, CA, USA 1988 VIII San Juan Biennial, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1985 17 Artistas Contemporáneos, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Internacional Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico XVIII Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 1984 Colección Permanente, Museo de Bellas Artes-INBA, Mexico City, Mexico 1983 Anthology of the Paris Biennial, Oslo, Norway; Copenhague, Denmark; Helsinki, Finland 1982 XII Biennale De Paris, Paris, France

Awards 2004-2007 Sistema Nacional de Creadores, FONCA 1997-1999 Sistema Nacional de Creadores, FONCA 1996 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for Installation Art

Puerta Roja |Shop 3, 1/F, SOHO 189, 189 Queen’s Rd West |Hong Kong [email protected] | +852 2803 0332 |www.puerta-roja.com © Copyright 2014 by Adriana Alvarez-Nichol. All rights reserved by Puerta Roja Limited. Hong Kong.