Berenice Olmedo

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Berenice Olmedo (born 1987) is a sculptor and performance artist whose work addresses the body, illness and care, as well as the biopolitics of disability and prothetic devices.[1][2][3]

Olmedo was born in Oaxaca, Mexico.[1] She was educated at the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico.[4] She is based in Mexico City.[5]

Work

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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 2012–2015 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. She created various products from the corpses to display as art; this included soap made from the dog fat; and boots, jackets, bags, and fur products from the dog skin. She also sold these items at a flea market in Puebla. The carcasses themselves were never directly displayed.[11]

Olmedo has exhibited her work in the 36th São Paulo Art Biennial,[12] the Berkeley Museum and Film Archive,[13] Museum Trondheim,[7] ICA Boston,[12] the Kunsthalle Basel,[14] the Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, and the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt.[12]

Collections

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Her work was acquired for the Boros Collection in Berlin in 2022.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Berenice Olmedo". Jan Kaps Gallery. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  2. ^ Schöneich, Fabian. "Berenice Olmedo". Cura Magazine. 38 (Generational Issue). Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  3. ^ "Berenice Olmedo: Where Things Happen". Fondazione Imago Mundi. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  4. ^ "Artists-in-Dialogue: Berenice Olmedo + Medical Humanities". Rice University. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  5. ^ Smolik, Noemi (December 2020). "Berenice Olmedo (review)". ARTFORUM. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  6. ^ "BAMPFA Presents US Premieres by Three Internationally Acclaimed Contemporary Artists". BAMPFA. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  7. ^ a b Palomino, Camilia. "Berenice Olmedo considers how technology mediates life". Art21. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  8. ^ Jones, Christopher. "Berenice Olmedo—Radical Alterity and the Crip/Disabled Subject". Art Papers. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Harris, Jane Ursula (Summer 2022). "Berenice Olmedo: The Myth of Autonomy". Flash Art. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  11. ^ Valerio, María Antonia González; Tratnik, Polona (June 28, 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 October 9, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c "Berenice Olmedo". São Paulo Art Biennial. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  13. ^ "Berenice Olmedo". Berkeley Museum and Film Archive. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  14. ^ "Berenice Olmedo". Contemporary Art Library. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  15. ^ "Boros Collection, Current Exhibition". Boros Collection. Retrieved 6 October 2025.