Verticality is an acrobatic exercise: it makes every step a first step, which could also be the last. Haunted by the possibility of a fall, standing upright requires dexterity. Etymologically, the term acrobatic combines “akro,” meaning “high” or the “highest” and “bainein,” “to go” or “to walk.” Acrobatics comes into play whenever a difficult task is presented as an easy exercise. The social imposition of verticality gives existence an acrobatic dimension.
Berenice Olmedo’s installation ascribes the body membership in a prosthetic community that transcends the living/non-living divide. Its three sculptural components also evoke a sequence of steps, bringing narrative into play: the tall ableist tale of humanity’s evolution towards homo erectus. This is no simple story, however, for it confers superior value to verticality and independence. Not surprisingly, modern sculpture too was subjected to this script, propped up by pedestals and plinths.
Olmedo flips the narrative, challenging definitions of the body that center on integrity, independence, and ability. She deftly enlists a low plinth to bring her sculptures together and to keep them close to the ground, requiring visitors to change altitude. Her prosthetic sculptures invoke a hospitable body, whose flesh is amplified by neural networks, artificial supplements, and solidarity.
Berenice Olmedo lives and works in Mexico City. Her recent solo exhibitions include Hic et Nunc, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel (2022); Eccéite, Simian, Copenhagen (2021); CsO, Haecceidad, Jan Kaps, Cologne, Germany (2020); Art Basel, Switzerland (2019); Toraco-Lumbo [SKOLIÓPHYSIS], Lodos, Mexico City (2019); and Anthroprosthetic, Jan Kaps, Cologne (2018). Recent group exhibitions include To Begin Again, ICA Boston (2022); Bunker Berlin #4, Boros Collection, Berlin (2022); Wet Resistance, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany (2022); Colapso, TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Tenerife (2022); Vessels, David Zwirner, London (2022); The Sunset Ensemble, Alter + Ego, ERES Foundation, Munich (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico (2022); I don’t know you like that: The Bodywork of Hospitality, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, USA (2021); Crip*, Krannert Art Museum, Chicago (2021); Attitudes of the Unruly, Den Frie, Copenhagen (2021); Crip Time, Museum für moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt (2021), Contramundos, Lodos, Mexico City (2021); The Prophetic Pictures, Galerie Crèvecoeur, Paris (2021); Ghost & Bones, Galeria Stereo, Warsaw (2021); Before The Body There Is The Flesh, Interstate Projects, Brooklyn (2021); Otrxs Mundxs, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2020); How to Survive, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany (2020); Incorporea, Basement Roma - Cura, Rome (2020); and suddenly it all blossoms, RIBOCA2, Riga (2020); Dream Baby Dream, Haus Mödrath, Kerpen, Germany (2020); Autorreconstrucción: detritus, MUCA UNAM, Mexico City (2018); and CyberArts, OK Center, Linz, Austria (2017).
Verticality is an acrobatic exercise: it makes every step a first step, which could also be the last. Haunted by the possibility of a fall, standing upright requires dexterity. Etymologically, the term acrobatic combines “akro,” meaning “high” or the “highest” and “bainein,” “to go” or “to walk.” Acrobatics comes into play whenever a difficult task is presented as an easy exercise. The social imposition of verticality gives existence an acrobatic dimension.
Berenice Olmedo’s installation ascribes the body membership in a prosthetic community that transcends the living/non-living divide. Its three sculptural components also evoke a sequence of steps, bringing narrative into play: the tall ableist tale of humanity’s evolution towards homo erectus. This is no simple story, however, for it confers superior value to verticality and independence. Not surprisingly, modern sculpture too was subjected to this script, propped up by pedestals and plinths.
Olmedo flips the narrative, challenging definitions of the body that center on integrity, independence, and ability. She deftly enlists a low plinth to bring her sculptures together and to keep them close to the ground, requiring visitors to change altitude. Her prosthetic sculptures invoke a hospitable body, whose flesh is amplified by neural networks, artificial supplements, and solidarity.
Berenice Olmedo lives and works in Mexico City. Her recent solo exhibitions include Hic et Nunc, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel (2022); Eccéite, Simian, Copenhagen (2021); CsO, Haecceidad, Jan Kaps, Cologne, Germany (2020); Art Basel, Switzerland (2019); Toraco-Lumbo [SKOLIÓPHYSIS], Lodos, Mexico City (2019); and Anthroprosthetic, Jan Kaps, Cologne (2018). Recent group exhibitions include To Begin Again, ICA Boston (2022); Bunker Berlin #4, Boros Collection, Berlin (2022); Wet Resistance, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany (2022); Colapso, TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Tenerife (2022); Vessels, David Zwirner, London (2022); The Sunset Ensemble, Alter + Ego, ERES Foundation, Munich (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico (2022); I don’t know you like that: The Bodywork of Hospitality, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, USA (2021); Crip*, Krannert Art Museum, Chicago (2021); Attitudes of the Unruly, Den Frie, Copenhagen (2021); Crip Time, Museum für moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt (2021), Contramundos, Lodos, Mexico City (2021); The Prophetic Pictures, Galerie Crèvecoeur, Paris (2021); Ghost & Bones, Galeria Stereo, Warsaw (2021); Before The Body There Is The Flesh, Interstate Projects, Brooklyn (2021); Otrxs Mundxs, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2020); How to Survive, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany (2020); Incorporea, Basement Roma - Cura, Rome (2020); and suddenly it all blossoms, RIBOCA2, Riga (2020); Dream Baby Dream, Haus Mödrath, Kerpen, Germany (2020); Autorreconstrucción: detritus, MUCA UNAM, Mexico City (2018); and CyberArts, OK Center, Linz, Austria (2017).