Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Rodney McMillian, Cell I, 2017–2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017; Francis Upritchard, Desert Hippie, 2018; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 05, 2013–2017; Rodney McMillian, Mississippi Appendectomy, 2020. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Rodney McMillian, President Bill Clinton, May 16, 1997 - Apology for study done in Tuskeegee (US Public Health Service Syphillis Study at Tuskeegee), 2020; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Rodney McMillian, Cell I, 2017–2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 20, The Blinding Light 12, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Ana Torfs, When You Whistle, It Makes Air Come Out, 2019; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Rodney McMillian, President Bill Clinton, May 16, 1997 - Apology for study done in Tuskeegee (US Public Health Service Syphillis Study at Tuskeegee), 2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 20, The Blinding Light 12, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Rodney McMillian, Cell I, 2017–2020; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 20, The Blinding Light 12, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Stephanie Dinkins, Conversations with Bina48: Fragment 11, Fourth Mirror, 2018; Francis Upritchard, Desert Hippie, 2018; Rodney McMillian, Mississippi Appendectomy, 2020. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Clockwise from front: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 20, The Blinding Light 12, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017; Stephanie Dinkins, Conversations with Bina48: Fragment 11, Fourth Mirror, 2018; Francis Upritchard, Desert Hippie, 2018; Rodney McMillian, Mississippi Appendectomy, 2020. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Clockwise, from front: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Lucas Michael, Is As Is Is, 2018–2021 and Illusory Truth Effect, 2019–2021. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Clockwise, from left: Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Souple ment, 2022; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel and Atlas_Cecilia, 2021; Lucas Michael, Is As Is Is, 2018–2021 and Illusory Truth Effect, 2019–2021; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Front to back: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Souple ment, 2022; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel (detail), 2021. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Left to right: Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel (detail), 2021; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Cecilia, 2021. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Clockwise, from front: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Abriel, 2021; Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Smoking Bleaching, 2022. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Front, left to right: Slinko, Economy of Means, 2022; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Abriel (detail), 2021. Middle, left to right: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Lucas Michael, Is As Is Is, 2018–2021 and Illusory Truth Effect, 2019–2021. Back, left to right: Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel, 2021; Rodney McMillian, Untitled (Entrails) (detail), 2019–2020; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Cecilia, 2021. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Clockwise, from left: Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Souple ment, 2022; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel and Atlas_Cecilia, 2021; Lucas Michael, Is As Is Is, 2018–2021 and Illusory Truth Effect, 2019 2021; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
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).
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Rodney McMillian, Cell I, 2017–2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017; Francis Upritchard, Desert Hippie, 2018; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 05, 2013–2017; Rodney McMillian, Mississippi Appendectomy, 2020. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Rodney McMillian, President Bill Clinton, May 16, 1997 - Apology for study done in Tuskeegee (US Public Health Service Syphillis Study at Tuskeegee), 2020; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Rodney McMillian, Cell I, 2017–2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 20, The Blinding Light 12, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Ana Torfs, When You Whistle, It Makes Air Come Out, 2019; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Rodney McMillian, President Bill Clinton, May 16, 1997 - Apology for study done in Tuskeegee (US Public Health Service Syphillis Study at Tuskeegee), 2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 20, The Blinding Light 12, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Rodney McMillian, Cell I, 2017–2020; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 20, The Blinding Light 12, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Left to right: Stephanie Dinkins, Conversations with Bina48: Fragment 11, Fourth Mirror, 2018; Francis Upritchard, Desert Hippie, 2018; Rodney McMillian, Mississippi Appendectomy, 2020. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gallery 1.
Clockwise from front: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Mounir Fatmi, The Blinding Light 20, The Blinding Light 12, The Blinding Light 08, 2013–2017; Stephanie Dinkins, Conversations with Bina48: Fragment 11, Fourth Mirror, 2018; Francis Upritchard, Desert Hippie, 2018; Rodney McMillian, Mississippi Appendectomy, 2020. Image courtesy of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; photo: Colin Conces.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Clockwise, from front: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Lucas Michael, Is As Is Is, 2018–2021 and Illusory Truth Effect, 2019–2021. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Clockwise, from left: Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Souple ment, 2022; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel and Atlas_Cecilia, 2021; Lucas Michael, Is As Is Is, 2018–2021 and Illusory Truth Effect, 2019–2021; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Front to back: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Souple ment, 2022; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel (detail), 2021. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Left to right: Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel (detail), 2021; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Cecilia, 2021. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Clockwise, from front: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Abriel, 2021; Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Smoking Bleaching, 2022. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Front, left to right: Slinko, Economy of Means, 2022; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Abriel (detail), 2021. Middle, left to right: Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020; Lucas Michael, Is As Is Is, 2018–2021 and Illusory Truth Effect, 2019–2021. Back, left to right: Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel, 2021; Rodney McMillian, Untitled (Entrails) (detail), 2019–2020; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Cecilia, 2021. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
Center for the Arts Gallery, 2nd Floor.
Clockwise, from left: Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Souple ment, 2022; Lynne Marsh, Atlas_Jobel and Atlas_Cecilia, 2021; Lucas Michael, Is As Is Is, 2018–2021 and Illusory Truth Effect, 2019 2021; Berenice Olmedo, Akro-Bainein, 2020. Image courtesy of University at Buffalo Art Galleries; photo: Biff Henrich/IMG-INK.
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).