Miguel Calderón: Interrogatorio Inverso
January 31, 2020 | April 3, 2020

Opening: Friday, January 31, 2020, 8:00 pm

Páramo and kurimanzutto present the exhibition Interrogatorio Inverso [Inverse Interrogation], by Miguel Calderón. Interrogatorio Inverso is a group of works in which Calderón explores themes such as the free association of images, perception, the workings of memory, and the mass production and dissemination of news images. The artist combines these issues with his characteristic way of creating narratives based on his encounters with real persons who have undergone extreme experiences.

The central piece of the exhibition is an interview with the former director of Interpol Mexico, in which he narrates some of the most outstanding cases of his career. His eloquent language, humor and physical presence create a sense of being in front of a character from a police novel that is constantly confronted by existential questions. On a parallel screen, Calderón adds footage extracted from various news archives that are part of the collective unconscious and that are linked to the events described during the interview. The exhibition includes other pieces associated with the idea of images multiplied through communications media.

Interrogatorio Inverso is the fourth show of the program entitled Impasse 2019-2020, a project by Daniel Guzmán. Impasse is designed to reactivate and strengthen ties with the local contemporary art scene through a selection of artists, both Mexican and foreign, who have made their careers in Mexico.

About the artist

Miguel Calderón (Mexico City, 1971) explores a broad range of themes, from violence and corruption in Mexico, to youth and family dynamics, to the supernatural. However, his work is unified by an ever-present sense of theatricality, questioning the fine line between reality and fiction.

Frequently cast from the perspective of an outsider, he highlights the macabre complexity of man’s position in the universe deftly weaving together mockery, foolishness, social critique and sincerity of emotion. He creates works from a mashup of vernacular references, employing a variety of media, including video, photography, sculpture and painting.For Calderón, it is important that art be accessible; he came of age as an artist in Mexico during the 1990s, when he was a key figure in the development of a young alternative art scene in Mexico.

Calderón received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1994. He has been the recipient of the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Grant & Commissions program (2013), The MacArthur Fellowship for Film and New Media (2000), and the Bancomer/Rockefeller Fellowship (1995).

Recent major solo exhibitions include: Independientemente de con quien duerma, Fototeca Latinoamericana (FoLa), Buenos Aires (2017); Miguel Calderón: Color Bleed, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, New York (2012); Miguel Calderón, solo project, Casa América, Madrid, Spain (2010); Conversations with a Tropical Vulture, with George Kuchar, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco (2010); Bestseller, Panorámica, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2009); Ridiculum Vitae, La Panadería, Mexico City, Mexico (1998). The artist has also exhibited in numerous group shows, at the following institutions: Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2015); The Galleries at Moore, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia (2015); Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico (2014); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California (2014); The Foundation Cartier, Paris, France (2013); Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Mexico City, Mexico (2011); The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California (2011); Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico (2010); Museum Moderner Kunst (MUMOK), Vienna, Austria (2009); National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2007); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, United States (2007); PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, United States (2002), among others.

Calderón has participated in various biennials, including: 7th Internationale Photo- Triennial, Esslingen, Germany (2007); Bussan Biennale, Bussan, Korea (2006); Sharja Biennial 7, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2005); Yokohama Triennale of Contemporary Art, Yokohama, Japan (2005); ARCO, Madrid, Spain (1998).

Calderón currently lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico.

Páramo would like to extend its gratitude to kurimanzutto, Tequila 1800 Cristalino and UBS for their collaborative support. Miguel Calderón thanks Emilio Azcárraga Jean and Televisa for their contribution providing audiovisual material for the realization of this work.​

For further information, please contact: archivo@paramogaleria.com Press enquiries: media@paramogaleria.com / +52 33 3825 0921