Berenice Olmedo
Berenice Olmedo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1987 (age 38â39) Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Education | Universidad de las Américas Puebla |
| Known for | |
Berenice Olmedo (born 1987) is a Mexican sculptor and performance artist. Her work addresses the body, illness and care, as well as the biopolitics of disability and prosthetic devices.[1][2][3] She is based in Mexico City.[4]
Early life and education
[edit]Olmedo was born in Oaxaca, Mexico in 1987.[1] She studied at the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico.[5]
Work
[edit]Olmedo's sculptures are constructed from materials and devices from the medical field, including scoliosis corsets and prosthetic appendages.[6][7]
A review in Art Papers magazine states that her work "calls into question how ableist and anthropocentric frameworks operate across the sociopolitical spectrum."[8][9] Writing in Flash Art magazine, Jane Ursula Harris reflects on Olmeda's work as a disruption of "ableist standards of normativity" that allows viewers to "recognize the wellness of diverse bodies."[10]
In her 2012â2015 project Canine Tomatocommerce or The Political-Ethical Dilemma of Merchandise, Olmeda gathered the carcasses of stray dogs killed by vehicles on the streets near Puebla.[11] She created various products from the corpses to display as art including soap made from dog fat and boots, jackets, bags, and fur products from dog skin.[11] She also sold these items at a flea market in Puebla.[11] The carcasses themselves were never directly displayed.[11] Her work was acquired for the Boros Collection in Berlin in 2022.[12]
Career
[edit]In 2018, Olmedo displayed sculptures made from secondhand orthotic devices in her first solo exhibition which took place in Cologne.[9] Olmedo has exhibited her work in the 36th SĂŁo Paulo Art Biennial,[13] the Berkeley Museum and Film Archive,[14] Museum Trondheim,[7] ICA Boston,[13] the Kunsthalle Basel,[15] the Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, and the Museum fĂŒr Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt.[13]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Berenice Olmedo". Jan Kaps Gallery. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â Schöneich, Fabian. "Berenice Olmedo". Cura Magazine. 38 (Generational Issue). Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â "Berenice Olmedo: Where Things Happen". Fondazione Imago Mundi. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â Smolik, Noemi (December 2020). "Berenice Olmedo (review)". Artforum. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â "Artists-in-Dialogue: Berenice Olmedo + Medical Humanities". Rice University. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â "BAMPFA Presents US Premieres by Three Internationally Acclaimed Contemporary Artists". BAMPFA. 15 July 2025. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- 1 2 Palomino, Camilia. "Berenice Olmedo considers how technology mediates life". Art21. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â Jones, Christopher (4 January 2022). "Berenice OlmedoâRadical Alterity and the Crip/Disabled Subject". Art Papers. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- 1 2 Watlington, Emily (May 2020). "Berenice Olmedo's Sculptures Use Debris and Dog Caracasses to Honor Those on Society's Margins". Art in America: 12. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â Harris, Jane Ursula (Summer 2022). "Berenice Olmedo: The Myth of Autonomy". Flash Art. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Valerio, MarĂa Antonia GonzĂĄlez; Tratnik, Polona (28 June 2023). "8.7: Where Does the Human as Animal Take Place?". Through the Scope of Life: Art and (Bio)Technologies Philosophically Revisited. Springer International Publishing. p. 161. ISBN 9783031317361. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- â "Boros Collection, Current Exhibition". Boros Collection. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Berenice Olmedo". SĂŁo Paulo Art Biennial. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â "Berenice Olmedo". Berkeley Museum and Film Archive. 26 April 2025. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- â "Berenice Olmedo". Contemporary Art Library. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
