Berenice Olmedo

born 1987 in Oaxaca, Mexico.

There is no stigma of disability in the world I propose, but only variations of existence, variations of movement, variations of slowness and speed. – Berenice Olmedo

Berenice Olmedo is known for her sculptures and kinetic objects, in which she often integrates prostheses and orthotics. Her fusions of body parts challenge the notion of human wholeness and draw attention to the political dimensions of disability, illness and care. The artist engages with standardized expectations of our bodies and explores the extent to which external aids are essential to human existence. By reusing forms and materials from the medical field, she challenges the pursuit of efficiency and seamless perfection in favor of a more physical, political, and existential contemporary experience. Her works have been exhibited at the Kunsthalle Basel; the ICA Boston, Boston; the Boros Collection, Berlin; the Dortmunder Kunstverein; the TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Tenerife; the Eres Foundation, Munich; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey; the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; the Krannert Art Museum, Chicago; the Museum für moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt; the Simian, Copenhagen; the Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; the Haus Mödrath - Räume für Kunst, Kerpen and the Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte (MUCA), Mexico City; CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain de Bordeaux.

Gallery exhibitions

Henry Curchod, Shuriya Davis, Xin Liu, Michelle Lopez, Berenice Olmedo, Sigmar Polke, Glad Rags at Jan Kaps, Cologne
Henry CurchodShuriya DavisXin LiuMichelle LopezBerenice OlmedoSigmar Polke
Glad Rags
12 Apr – 18 May 2024
Jan Kaps, Cologne
Berenice Olmedo, CsO, haecceidad at Jan Kaps, Cologne
CsO, haecceidad
04 Sep – 27 Nov 2020
Jan Kaps, Cologne
Berenice Olmedo, Anthroprosthetic at Jan Kaps, Cologne
Anthroprosthetic
27 Oct – 02 Dec 2018
Jan Kaps, Cologne

Institutional exhibitions

Berenice Olmedo, Bunker Berlin #4 at Boros Collection, Berlin
Bunker Berlin #4
01 May 22 – 01 Apr 2026
Boros Collection, Berlin
Berenice Olmedo, When The Star Roses Pour at HERmit Space, Beijing
When The Star Roses Pour
24 May – 31 Aug 2024
HERmit Space, Beijing
Berenice Olmedo, Attention After Technology at Kunsthall Trondheim, Trondheim
Attention After Technology
13 Oct 23 – 28 Jan 2024
Kunsthall Trondheim, Trondheim
Berenice Olmedo, Pickpocket [Group] at Fondazione Zimei, Teatro Michetti, Pescara
Pickpocket [Group]
28 Oct – 31 Dec 2023
Fondazione Zimei, Teatro Michetti, Pescara
Berenice Olmedo, signals: signals... here and there at Para Site Hong Kong
signals: signals... here and there
12 Aug – 19 Sep 2023
Para Site Hong Kong
Berenice Olmedo, Hic et Nunc at Kunsthalle Basel, Basel
Hic et Nunc
10 Jun – 18 Sep 2022
Kunsthalle Basel, Basel
Berenice Olmedo, Crip Time at Museum Für Moderne Kunst (Mmk), Frankfurt
Crip Time
18 Sep 21 – 30 Jan 2022
Museum Für Moderne Kunst (Mmk), Frankfurt
Berenice Olmedo, Eccéite at Simian, Copenhagen
Eccéite
13 Nov 21 – 08 Jan 2022
Simian, Copenhagen
Berenice Olmedo, How to Survive at Sprengel Museum, Hannover
How to Survive
20 Nov 20 – 25 Apr 2021
Sprengel Museum, Hannover
Berenice Olmedo, OTRXS MUNDXS at Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
OTRXS MUNDXS
28 Nov 20 – 18 Apr 2021
Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
Berenice Olmedo, before the body there is the flesh at Interstate Projects, Brooklyn
before the body there is the flesh
05 Mar – 11 Apr 2021
Interstate Projects, Brooklyn
Berenice Olmedo, and suddenly it all blossoms at Riga International Biennial Of Contemporary Art, curated By Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel
and suddenly it all blossoms
20 Aug – 13 Sep 2020
Riga International Biennial Of Contemporary Art, curated By Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel
Berenice Olmedo, Toraco-Lumbo [SKOLIÓPHYSIS] at Lodos, Mexico City
Toraco-Lumbo [SKOLIÓPHYSIS]
16 Nov 19 – 11 Jan 2020
Lodos, Mexico City

Press

Vita

Lives and works in Mexico City Born 1987 in Oaxaca, Mexico

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023 Aithér, Fitzpatrick Gallery, Paris Entelékheia, Lodos Gallery, Mexico City

2022 Hic et Nunc, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel

2021 Eccéite, Simian, Copenhagen

2020 CsO, Haecceidad, Jan Kaps, Cologne

2019 Toraco-Lumbo Lodos [SKOLIÓPHYSIS], Lodos, Mexico City

2018 Anthroprosthetic, Jan Kaps, Cologne

2012 Bioethics and Biopolitics: The Entry of the Stray Dog into the City System, Escuela de Humanidades, Puebla

2011 Vivir Mejor (To Live Better), Laboratorio de Biología de la Universidad, Puebla The Nation, Which is Nation Thanks to its Dead, (Performance), Plaza de Armas, Puebla

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024 Capítulo VI: Rituales, LagoAlgo, Mexico City Spine, Gianni Manhattan, Vienna When The Star Roses Pour, HERmit Space, Beijing The Myth of Normal. Of Competing and Conceding, Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover Glad Rags, Jan Kaps, Cologne

2023 Attention After Technology, Kunsthall Trondheim, Trondheim Meaningful Disorders, Galerie Nordenhake, Mexico City Pickpocket, Fondazione Zimei, Teatro Michetti, Pescara The sieve of secrecy, beacon, Munich signals… here and there, PARA SITE, Hong Kong Antefuture, CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Support Structures, Gathering, London Fallen Angels, SALTS, Basel Unto Dust, Fitzpatrick Gallery, Paris Species, Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich Frontal Sphinx, Mendes Wood, São Paulo

2022 I don't know you like that: The Bodywork of Hospitality, University at Buffalo Art Galleries, Buffalo, New York To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood, ICA Boston, Boston Bunker Berlin #4, Boros Collection, Berlin Wet Resistance, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund Colapso, TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Tenerife Vessels, David Zwirner, London Alter + Ego, Eres Foundation, Munich The Sunset Ensemble, Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, Monterrey Part One, Company Gallery, New York

2021 I don’t know you like that: The Bodywork of Hospitality, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Crip*, Krannert Art Museum, Chicago Attitudes of the unruly, Den Frie, Copenhagen Crip Time, Museum für moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt Contramundos, Lodos, Mexico City The Prophetic Pictures, Galerie Crèvecœur, Paris Ghost & Bones, Galeria Stereo, Warsaw Before The Body There Is The Flesh, Interstate Projects, Brooklyn

2020 OTRXS MUNDXS, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City How to Survive, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover INCORPOREA, Basement Roma, Rome and suddenly it all blossoms, 2nd Riga Biennial, Riga Dream Baby Dream, Haus Mödrath - Räume für Kunst, Kerpen

2018 Nuevo Manifiesto de Cine Mexicano, (curated by Diego Salvador Rios and Francisco Cordero-Oceguera), Lodos, Mexico City Selfreconstruction: Detritus, (curated by Abraham Cruzvillegas), Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte (MUCA), Mexico City Memory Emplacements, Knowledge Tianguis, Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City Now in common, More opacity’ Universitario de Ciencias y Arte (MUCA ROMA), Mexico City Trasher, LADRÓN galería, Mexico City

2017 CyberArts, OÖ Kulturquartier, OK Center, Linz Young creators of FONCA, Centro de las Artes, San Luis Potosí Freedom for the taste, El Colegio Nacional, Mexico City

2016 UNAM Biennial Visual Arts, Galería Antonio Ramírez, Mexico City Transpiksel, International Festival of Art, Science and Free Technology, Facultad de artes y diseño, UNAM, Mexico City

2015 No need for references, Kunsthalle Exnergasse WUK, Vienna

Performance

2024 Amenaza con no desaparecer, la era de la extinción, Museo Jumex, Mexico City