Biography

Yoshua Okón was born in Mexico City in 1970 where he currently lives. His work, like a series of near-sociological experiments executed for the camera, blends staged situations, documentation and improvisation and questions habitual perceptions of reality and truth, selfhood and morality. In 2002 he received an MFA from UCLA with a Fulbright scholarship. His solo shows exhibitions include: Yoshua Okón: Collateral, MUAC, Mexico City and Amparo Museum, Puebla; Yoshua Okón, Ghebaly Gallery, LA; Yoshua Okón: In the Land of Ownership, ASAKUSA Tokyo; Salò Island, UC Irvine, Irvine; Piovra, Kaufmann Repetto, Milan; Poulpe, Mor Charpentier, Paris; Octopus, Cornerhouse, Manchester and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles and SUBTITLE, Städtische Kunsthalle, Munich. His group exhibitions include: Manifesta 11, Zurich; Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul; Gwangju Biennale, Korea; Antes de la resaca, MUAC, Mexico City; Incongruous, Musèe Cantonal des Beux-Arts, Lausanne; The Mole´s Horizon, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels; Mercosur Biennial, Porto Alegre; Amateurs, CCA Wattis; San Francisco; Laughing in a Foreign Language, Hayward Gallery, London; Adaptive Behavior, New Museum, NY and Mexico City: an exhibition about the exchange rates between bodies and values, PS1, MoMA, NY, and Kunstwerke, Berlin. His work is included in the collections of Tate Modern, Hammer Museum, LACMA, Colección Jumex and MUAC, among others.

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Education <

2000-2002	MFA, UCLA, Los Ángeles, EUA.
1990-1994	BFA, Concordia University, Montreal, Canadá.

Selected Solo Exhibitions <

2022	DEMO, in collaboration with Juan Obando. Museo Espacio, Aguascalientes, Mexico.
2020	Yoshua Okón: Oráculo, Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City.
2019	Yoshua Okón: Gravitational Collapse, Proyecto AMIL, Lima, Peru.
	Yoshua Okón: Poder, Matucana 100, Santiago, Chile.
	Yoshua Okón: Oracle, Blaffer Museum, Houston, USA.
2018	Yoshua Okón: Shita (Under), ASAKUSA, Tokyo, Japan.
	Yoshua Okón: Future Shock, Chalton Gallery, London, UK.
	Yoshua Okón & Hu Weiyi, Condo Shanghai, Don Gallery with Ghebaly Gallery, Shanghai, China.
	Yoshua Okón, Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
	Yoshua Okón: Oracle, Colby Museum, Maine, USA.
	Yoshua Okón: Collateral, Amparo Museum, Puebla, Mexico.
2017	Yoshua Okón: Collateral, Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo MUAC, Mexico City, Mexico.
	Yoshua Okón: Oracle, Torrance Art Museum, California, USA.
	Miasma, Parque Galería, Mexico City, Mexico.
2016	Miasma, Testsite, Austin TX, USA.
	Yoshua Okón: Octopus, Artspace, Sydney, Australia.
	Yoshua Okón: In the Land of Ownership, ASAKUSA, Tokyo, Japan.
	Oracle, UMOCA, Utah, USA.
2015	Octopus, ASU Art Museum, Phoenix, USA.
	Oracle, ASU Art Museum, Phoenix, USA.
	The Indian Project: Rebuilding History, Mor-Charpentier Gallery, Paris, France.
	Octopus, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, USA.
	Permanent Collection Galleries, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
2014	Yoshua Okón, Kake Gallery, Okayama, Japan.
	Yoshua Okón, Kurashiki University of the Science and the Arts, Okayama, Japan.
	Salò Island, UC Irvine, UCI Contemporary Arts Center Gallery, Irvine, USA.
2013	Yoshua Okón: Octopus, Cornerhouse. Manchester, England.
2012	Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, Hayward Gallery, London, England.
	Látex, Fundación Alumnos 47, Mexico City, Mexico.
	Poulpe, Galerie Mor Charpentier, Paris, France.
	Piovra, Kaufmann Repetto, Milan, Italy.
2011	Obra Reciente, Revolver Galería, Lima, Peru.
	Hausmeister, Galería La Central, Bogota, Colombia.
	Pulpo, Casa Galván, Mexico City, Mexico.
	Octopus, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA.
	Coyoterías, Ignacio Liprandi Arte contemporáneo, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
	HH, Baró Galería, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2010	Yoshua Okón: 2007-2010, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, USA.
	Hot Dog Stick, Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), GLOW festival, Los Angeles, USA.
2009	Chille, Galería Gabriela Mistral, Santiago, Chile.
	Ventanilla Única, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico.
	Hipnostasis, in collaboration with Raymond Pettibon, Armory Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, USA.
	Canned Laughter, Viafarini DOCVA, Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan, Italy.
2008	SUBTITLE, Lothringer 13 Städtische Kunsthalle München, Munich, Germany.
	MAVI, Galería Revolver, Lima, Peru.
	Art Wrestling, Art Perform, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, USA.
2007	Bocanegra, The Project, New York, USA.
2006	Saldo a Favor, Galería Espacio Mínimo, Madrid, Spain.
	Gaza Stripper, Herzeliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzeliya, Israel.
2005	Bocanegra, Galleria Francesca Kaufmann, Milan, Italy.
	Lago Bolsena, The Project, New York, USA.
2004	Yoshua Okon, Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City, Mexico.
	HCl, Galería Enrique Guerrero, Mexico City, Mexico.
	Shoot, The Project, Los Angeles, USA.
2003	Art Statements, Art Basel Miami, Galleria Francesca Kaufmann, Miami, USA.
	Cockfight, Galleria Francesca Kaufmann, Milan, Italy.
2002	Oríllese a la Orilla, Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland.
	Yoshua Okon, Galería Enrique Guerrero, Mexico City, Mexico.
	New Decor, Black Dragon Society, Los Angeles, USA.
2000	Cockfight, Modern Culture, New York, USA.
	Oríllese a la Orilla, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico.
	Lo Mejor de lo Mejor, La Panadería, Mexico City, Mexico.
1998	Rise & Fall, Brasilica, Vienna, Austria.
1997	KOBLENZ, La Panadería, Mexico City, Mexico.
	Beautiful Fluffy Stylish Hairy Butts, Chorus, Minneapolis, USA.
	A Propósito, in collaboration with Miguel Calderón. La Panadería, Mexico City, Mexico.

Selected Group Exhibitions <

Selected Public Collections <

Tate Modern, London, England.

Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA.

Colección Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico.

LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA.

Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, USA. & Paris, France.

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia.

Blanton Museum Collection, Austin, USA.

Collection Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland.

Colección Fundación ARCO, Madrid, Spain.

CIFO, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, USA.

Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy.

Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, USA.

MALI, Museo de Arte de Lima, Lima, Peru.

MUAC, Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico.

Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico.

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, USA.

Colby Museum of Art, Maine, USA.

Awards/Grants <

Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award, 2018.

COMEXUS Fulbright-Garcia Robles Scolarships recognition for work in visual arts, 2016.

US/Mexico Fund for Culture, Rockefeller Foundation, CONACULTA and Bancomer Foundation.

Young Creators, National Fund for Culture, Mexico, 1998.

Fulbright, 2000-2002.

Sistema Nacional de Creadores, National Fund for Culture, Mexico,2010-2013.

Art Matters, 2011.

Professional Service <

Advisor in New Genres, National Found for Culture. Mexico, 2008-2009.

Artist Council Member, Hammer Museum. Los Angeles, USA, 2010-2015.

Advisory Committee Member, CIFO (Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation). Miami, USA.

Founder and Artist Council Member, SOMA, Mexico City.

Board Member, Art Matters, New York, USA.

Selected Artist Talks <

2025	test 1
2024	test 1
	test 2
2023	test 1
2022	test 1
2021	testing

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