Influenced by living in different parts in Mexico and the United States, I grew interested in how different cultures perceive danger and risk. My endeavor focuses on materiality concepts by challenging objects conceptually and physically in Sculptures and underwater photographs and videos. My work explores the culturally specific paradigms of safety, danger and architecture through the juxtaposition and pairing of materials and objects. These juxtapositions achieve a sense of tension from makeshift environments with specific connotations, such as fragility, value, weight and power. The structures of the works seem to subvert not only architectural and decorative hierarchies, but also emotional and cultural ones, often involving the expectations and common sense of the viewer.
I graduated with a Master’s degree in Arts from Hunter College, New York. I have done solo shows in different institutions like San Francisco Art Institute; Museo El Eco,Mexico City; Art in General New York; Stanley Rubin Center, El Paso TX; College of Wooster Art Museum Ohio. My work has been featured at the Istanbul Biennial, ASU Museum; Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; Dublin Contemporary 2011, 6a Bienal de Curitiba Brazil, El Museo del Barrio and the Queens Museum, both in New York. I have attended the Skowhegan and Bemis Art Residencies program as well as a grant recipient of Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship , CIFO Grant Program, the Harpo Foundation, Sistema Nacional de Creadores in México, Harker Award for Interdisciplinary Studies at SFAI, Theodore Randall International Chair in Art and Design at Alfred University and the Black Cube Artist Fellowship. My work was featured in Art 21 close up series. I live between Guadalajara and Mexico City.
Alejandro Almanza Pereda
EDUCATION
2014
MFA in Sculpture, Hunter College, City University of New York, NY
2005
BFA in Studio Art, University of Texas at El Paso, TX
GRANTS/AWARDS
2020 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, Washington D.C.
2019 SNCA Grant National Fund for the Arts and Culture (FONCA), Mexico
2018 Theodore Randall International Chair in Art and Design, Alfred University, NY
Black Cube Artist Fellowship 2018, Denver, CO
2016 Ox-Bow, School of Art and Artists' Residency Visiting Artist Fellowship, MI
2015 Harker Award for Interdisciplinary Studies, San Francisco Art Institute, CA
2014 Honorable Mention XVI Bienal de Fotografía Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico
2009 Harpo Foundation Grant, L.A., CA
2008 Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Grants Program, Miami, FL
2007 Jovenes Creadores, National Fund for the Arts and Culture (FONCA), Mexico
2005 Best of Show Arlene Mc Kinon Award, University of Texas at El Paso, TX
Best Photograph/Digital Image, University of Texas at El Paso, TX
Jovenes Creadores, National Fund for the Arts and Culture (FONCA), Mexico
2004 Serie Print Project XI Coronado Studios Residency, Austin ,TX
2003 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, International Sculpture Center
Hamilton, NJ
Best Sculpture Award, University of Texas at El Paso, TX
RESIDENCIES
2023 Casa Wabi, Oaxaca, Mexico.
2016 Border Art Residency, El Paso, TX
2011 Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE
2004 The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, ME
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
El triunfo de la derrota, Curro, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Fundación Casa Wabi Sabino, Mexico City.
2021
Um Caso que não se enquadra em nenhuma situacão estudada, Lehmann+Silva, Porto, Portugal.
Kommen ein Architekt und ein Maler in eine Bunkerkneipe… , Cuadro 22, Chur Switzerland.
2018
Dolo Eventual, Museo de arte de Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.
2017
Outside the Garden, Ibid Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2016
All the water under the bridge, the moon and the stars, Galería Curro, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Upside down Turn me up, Chert Lüdde, Berlin, Germany.
Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
Apparent Weight, Y Gallery, New York, NY.
2015 Everything but the kitchen sank, Walter and McBean Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, CA.
2014 Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Stanley Rubin Center, El Paso, TX.
2013 Las Quince Letras, Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City, Mexico.
El Diente Dorado del Caballo Regalado, Revolver Galería, Lima, Peru .
Fruto de una infinidad de circunstancias imposibles de determinar, González y González, Santiago, Chile.
2011 Within the Realm of Possibility, College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH.
Something for Nothing, Chert, Berlin, Germany.
Did it my way and I took the highway, Fundación Magnolia / Rove Gallery, London, UK.
2010 The heaviest baggage for the traveler is the empty one, Magnan Metz Gallery, New York, NY.
2010 Ideational Architectures, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2009 Those who live by the sword, die by the sword or by third hand smoke, Chert, Berlin, Germany.
2008 The Fan and The Shit, Magnan Projects, New York, NY.
2007 Andamio (temporary frameworks), Art in General, New York, NY.
2006 Stand Clear, Magnan Emrich, New York, NY.
2005 Mix Series, Dallas Center for Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX.
Verdevete, Glass Gallery, The University of Texas at El Paso, TX.
2003 Impermeable, Union Gallery, El Paso, TX.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 El cuarto paso, El programa. Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala.
2023 Unmonumental, Poush Atelier 103. París, Francia.
My demons My Angels, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Germany.
Verano Peligroso, Ayer Ayer, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Transfaktura, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Querétaro. Queretaro Mexico.
2022 La casa que nos inventamos, Oklahoma Contemporary. Oklahoma..
Ing. Jorge Matute Remus. La técnica al servicio de la ciudad, Instituto Cultural Cabañas. Guadalajara Mexico.
Festival Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo, León, Guanajuato, Mexico.
HOY Arte Actual en Guadalajara, Cámara de Comercio, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México.
2021 Le contraddizioni della fragilità, Eduardo Secci, Florence, Italy.
Simulacro y Simulación, Curro, Guadalajara, Mexico.
A poet in New York or New York in a Poet, The Clemente, New York, NY.
Another Apocalypse is Possible,Borusan Contemporary Istanbul Turkey.
100 Sculptures, Anonymous Gallery. New York City.
Nada House, Governors Island, New York City.
Un eco es un eco , Galería Juan Soriano, Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico.
Epílogo, Arteriam. Mexico City.
2020 Afinidades Electivas 20/20, Torre Americas 1500. Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico.
Organismos Articulados, Mexican Cultural Institute of Culture in Germany, Berlin, Germany.
2019 Mercurio Retrógrado, Guadalajara 90201, Zapopan, Mexico.
The Fulfillment Center, Black Cube, Denver, CO.
BelVerde, Teatro dei Fauni, Locarno, Switzerland.
No es el arco ni la flecha, Daniela Elbahara Studio, Mexico City.
100 Sculptures, Anonymous Gallery, Paris, France.
Malpaso: A Collaborative Investigation, The Clemente, New York, NY.
LIGHT, Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH.
De la Mano a la Boca, Taller Los Guayabos, Guadalajara, Mexico.
2018 OPUS Merriweather, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Colombia, MD .
SUPERSIMÉTRICA, Matadero, Madrid, Spain.
Tin Foil Top Hat, Regina Rex/Parque, Mexico City, Mexico City.
2017 Kitchen Debate, Rawson Projects, New York, NY.
A Good Neighbour ,15th Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey.
Pool, Tropez, Berlin, Germany.
Chingaderas Sofisticadas, Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
Single-Channel Catalyst II, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC.
La ciudad está allá afuera. Demolición, ocupación y utopía., Museo de Arte de Sinaloa, Culiacan, Mexico.
First Day of Good Weather - Latin American Art, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Germany.
2016 La ciudad está allá afuera. Demolición, ocupación y utopía, Centro Cultural Tlatelolco, Mexico City.
+52 Paisajes recientes, Fundación Calosa, Irapuato, Mexico.
El arte de vivir, Museo Pepe Espaliu, Cordoba, Spain.
Umwelt Inversion, Galerie Conradi, Hamburg, Germany.
Leaping over a bush to surprise a quail, Chert, Berlin, Germany.
2015 Hijos de la chingada, LAMB Arts, London, UK.
Sexxxitecture, CULT, San Francisco, CA.
1a Bienal Nacional De Paisaje, Museo De Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico.
Club of Matinée idolz. CO2, Turin, Italy.
Dialogo entre Patrick Hamilton y Alejandro Almanza Pereda, The 9.99, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2014 XVI Bienal de Fotografía, Centro de las Artes, Monterrey, Mexico.
Foreshock, La Fabrica, Brooklyn, NY.
Delirios de declive, Curro y Poncho, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Largo x Ancho x Alto / Height x Width x Depth, The 9.99, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Game changer, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO.
About a Mountain, Aysa Geisberg Gallery, New York, NY.
What Goes There?, Y Gallery, New York, NY.
Common ground: Earth, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey.
The Invitational, Kunsthalle Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY.
2013 Anti thesis, Present Company/Active Space, Brooklyn, NY.
Art at the Border, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM.
Epic Fail, Storefront, Brooklyn, NY.
I forgot to forget, Urban Arts Space, Columbus, OH.
Turn Off the Sun, ASU Art Museum, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
2012 Caminar la línea, Galería Max Estrella, Madrid, Spain.
2011 6ª VentoSul - Bienal de Curitiba, Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Curitiba, Brazil.
Terrible Beauty-Dublin Contemporary 2011, Dublin, Ireland.
Anonymous Presence, Y Gallery, New York.
2010 Qui Vive?- the Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, Russia.
Drinnen und Draussen, Chert, Berlin, Germany.
You are free, Tape Club, Berlin, Germany.
2009 20 Años del Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Biblioteca Vasconcelos, Mexico City, Mexico.
La Constelacion del Perro, Galeria Jesus Gallardo, Guanajuato, Mexico.
One foot apart, Galeria Leme, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Hecho en Casa, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico.
Drafts Establishing Future, Art Berlin Contemporary, Berlin, Germany.
La Constelación del Perro, Casino Metropolitano, Mexico City, Mexico.
Andrew Palmer, Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Patty Chang, Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany.
Chelsea Visits Havana, Museo de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba.
The Grand. Amelie A.,Wallace Gallery, Old Westbury, NY.
2008 Tension-Release, Caren Golden, New York, NY.
My Little Membrane, Nurture Art, Brooklyn NY.
Displacement, Greenbelt, Brooklyn, NY.
Squaring the Circle, Alphazed Project, Brooklyn, NY.
2007 Making Good Luck, Y Gallery, New York, NY.
Host, Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN.
S-Files 007, Museo del Barrio, New York, NY.
Media Asta Half-Mast, Haydee Rovirosa Gallery, New York, NY.
Creación en Movimiento Jóvenes Creadores 2005-2006, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City, Mexico.
2006 Queens International 2006, Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY.
El equilibrio y sus derivados, Casa del Lago, Mexico City, Mexico.
Mix 2005 (redux), Landmark Arts Texas Tech, Lubbock, TX.
2005 Intersections, Waterstop Gallery, Marfa, TX.
Performágia 3, Museo del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico.
2004 Border Art Residency Site Project, El Paso, TX.
Nine hundred Ten Texas St. Warehouse, El Paso, TX.
2004 Young Latino Artist (YLA N.9), Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, TX.
2003 1220 Texas St. Warehouse, El Paso ,TX.
2003 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture, International Sculpture Center, Hamilton, NJ.
Rim Road Show, Bridge Center for Contemporary Arts, El Paso, TX.
El Rey Del Camino, Union Gallery, El Paso, TX.
Centro Municipal de las Artes (CEMA), Juarez, Mexico.
Guerrilla Art. Bridge Center for Contemporary Arts, El Paso, TX.
2002 Juried Student Art Show (From 2002 until 2005), University of Texas at El Paso, TX.
FILMOGRAPHY
2020 De esos polvos estos barros. Short Film. Director and Writer.
Guanajuato International Film Festival. Official selection.
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2016 Fine words butter no parsnips however fine parsnips can butter words, Present Company, Brooklyn, NY.
The things that one does and the things that make one, Galería Curro, Guadalajara, Mexico.
2010 Deuce Miguel Monroy Deuce, Alterna y Corriente, Mexico City, Mexico
Room for Storms Birgit Rathsmann , Alterna y Corriente, Mexico City, Mexico
El Ahijado, Alterna y Corriente, Mexico City, Mexico
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Kurt Beers, 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow, London: Thames & Hudson, 2019.
-Secretaría de Cultura, Government of Mexico, Creation En Movimiento-20 Anos FONCA 1989/2009, Mexico City 2014 .
-Alejandro Almanza Pereda, “Portfolio,” BOMB Issue 148/ Summer 2019, New York : NEW ARTS PUBLICATIONS, Inc., 2019.
-Lindsay Preston Zappas, “Alejandro Almanza Pereda at Ibid Gallery,” Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, issue 10- November , 2017.
-Andy Campbell, “Chingaderas Sofisticadas at Kohn Gallery, Los Angels” CRITICS’ PICKS, Artforum online, September 2017.
-Trinie Dalton, “Take Me to the Other Side,” DAIARY, Artforum online, September 2017.
-“Painting stuck in concrete at Pera Museum,” Daily Sabah online, September 2017.
-Nora Tataryan, “Alejandro Almanza Pereda and the Forests in our Living Rooms,” 15b.iksv.org, August 2017.
-Secretaría de Cultura, Government of Mexico, Creación En Movimiento-20 Anos FONCA 1989/2009, Mexico City 2014 .
-“Alejandro Almanza Pereda - Everything but the Kitchen Sank at San Francisco Art Institute,” Blog, TERREMOTO, November 2015.
-Larissa Archer, “Sexxxitecture at Cult, San Francisco,” Reviews, Frieze Issue 174, October 2015.
-Glen Helfand, “Alejandro Almanza Pereda: Everything but the Kitchen Sank,” Reviews, photograph magazine, September 2015.
-Claudia Arozqueta, “Alejandro Almanza Pereda - Everything but the Kitchen Sank at SFAI’s Walter and McBean Galleries” CRITICS’ PICKS, Artforum online, September 2015.
-Sarah Hotchkiss, “Artist Experiments Underwater and Upside Down at SFAI,” KQED online, September 2015.
-Gabriela Vainsencher, “From Black Performance to Stuff on a Shelf, a Visit to Five Shows in San Francisco,” hyperallergic.com, August 2015.
-Linda Yablonsky, “Material World,” DAIARY, Artforum online, February 2015.
-Kate Bonansinga, Curating at the Edge, Artists Respond to the US/Mexico Border, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2014.
-Elena Vozmediano, “Caminar la Lìnea”, ElCultural.es, April 2014.
-Cuauhtémoc Medina, Sin Límites, Arte Contemporáneo en la Ciudad de México, 2000-2010, Mexico City: RM + Cubo Blanco + CONACULTA, 2013
-It’s Nice that Annual 2013, London: It’s Nice that Annual, 2013.
-Turn off the Sun, Mexico City: La Colección Jumex, 2013.
-Robert Klanten and F. Schulze, Erratic: Visual Impact in Current Design, Berlin, Germany: Gestalten, 2012.
-Michele Robecchi, “Alejandro Almanza Pereda, something for nothing,” Reviews, New York: FlashArt, July 201..
-Eva Díaz, “The Triumph of Kipple in Alejandro Almanza Pereda’s Sculptures,” Buenos Aires, Argentina: Arte al Día 2010.
-Jennifer Chert, Drinnen & Draussen, Berlin, Germany: Chert Gallery and Motto, 2010.
-The Younger than Jesus Artist Directory, New York: Phaidon Press, 2009.
-“Alejandro Almanza Pereda”, Exhibition, DOMUS n. 925, Milan, Italy2009.
-Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Andamio (Temporary Frameworks), Art in General New Commissions Program Book Series Vol. X, New York: Art in General, 2007.
Alejandro Almanza Pereda and Eleanor Heartney, Alejandro Almanza Pereda: Works and Process (Paperback), New York: Magnan Project, 2008.
COLLECTIONS
Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey.
ASU Art Museum, Tempe, AZ.
Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City.
Borusan Collection, Istanbul, Turkey.
LAM Museum, Lesse, Netherlands.
The Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art.
Goetz Collection, Munich, Germany.
El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY.
KADIST, Paris, France and San Francisco, CA.
Colección Jumex, Mexico City.
Museo de Arte de Lima, Lima, Peru.
Colección Alma Colectiva, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
Museo de arte e historia de Guanajuato, Leon, Guanajuato.