Moris (eng)
Moris
Mexico, 1978
Moris’s work revolves around themes that point to representation, social and subjective will, urban issues and marginal cultures, usually taken for granted in conventional societies. Informed by constant fieldwork, the themes Moris investigates have been part of his life since childhood and are pertinent to both his personal and professional backgrounds.
The street and social space are his laboratory for research, data collection and clues, analysis of visual cultures and vernacular aesthetics. Observing, integrating and learning from the diverse social codes of the marginal classes of Mexico City. Their dialects and semiotics, their survival strategies and the informal use of aesthetics in their environment in order to make routine life more humane and dignified, are the driving values of Moris’ work.
He has participated in the São Paulo and Havana Biennales, as well as in group exhibitions at Fundación Jumex, Mexico; CIFO Fontanals Cisneros, Miami; Artium, Vitoria; and MUSAC, León. He has also held solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico City; Sala Siqueiros, Mexico City; and Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Germany.
His work can be found in the collections of MoMA, New York; Pérez Art Museum, Miami; Fundación Jumex; CIFO Fontanals Cisneros; SMAK; CA2M; Artium; MOCA, Los Angeles; Museo Amparo, Puebla; Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Isabel and Agustín Coppel Collection, Mexico City; David Chipperfield Collection, London; among others.
Moris. Pobres matando pobres 3. 2026. Collage and enamel on canvas. 200 x 150 cm
Moris. La vida en negro (Deportados 1). 2026. Collage, cardboard, tape and masks on bags of the Bank of Mexico. 240 x 200 x 25 cm
Moris. Lo que la pobreza escupió. 2025. Transfer, ink, enamel and collage on canvas. 220 x 180 cm
Moris. El vendaval. 2023. Transfer, dirt and ink on canvas. 150 x 150 cm
Moris. Las provincianas. 2021. Collage, concrete and transfer on canvas. 213 x 150 cm
Moris. Crimen y suicidio. 2021. Transfer and ink on canvas. 120 x 90 cm
Moris. Sin insectos no atrapas peces I. 2016. Concrete and collage on canvas. 196 x 146 cm
Moris. El adicto. 2015. Plaster, metal, paper and stone. 22 x 20 x 15 cm
Moris
Solo Exhibitions
2024
El silencio tras la tragedia, Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Ciudad de México, México
The devil holds your eyelids, Marc Straus, New York, NY
2023
La cárcel a cielo abierto. NF/NIEVES FERNÁNDEZ, Madrid, Spain
Walking Towards the Executioner. Rolando Anselmi Galerie, Rome, Italy
2022
The Window Project. Rolando Anselmi Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2020
A Shot into the Air. Marc Straus Gallery, New York, USA
2019
Out There, There’s a Bullet for Everyone. NF/NIEVES FERNÁNDEZ, Madrid
2018
Even Dead, You Can Die. Asphalt Festival, Düsseldorf
2017
Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
2016
Escaping the Rope. Galerie Michael Sturm, Stuttgart
2015
The Triumph of the Rat. Stadtgalerie, Saarbrücken
No One Will Miss You in the Pack. NF/NIEVES FERNÁNDEZ, Madrid
The Bark Is No Worse Than the Bite. ArtBo – Solo Projects, Bogotá
2014
Prey and Predator. Records of Illegality and Violence. Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City
A Monster Walks Among You. Proyecto Fachada – Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City
The Law of the Street. Galería González y González, Santiago, Chile
2013
The Beast Will Have Its Day. Galerie Michael Sturm, Stuttgart
No Animal Has the Right to Worry About What May Happen Tomorrow. Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City
2012
It’s Hard to Be Tied Like a Sheep When You’re a Wolf. Baró Galería, São Paulo
The Vultures Are Already Circling. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
Sadic. González y González Gallery, Santiago, Chile
2011
When the Lion Kills, the Jackals Benefit. I-20 Gallery, New York
You’re Alive Because I Didn’t Kill You. ARCOmadrid – Solo Projects, Focus Latin America, Madrid
2010
Speranza. Colectivo Viernes. El 52. OMR Gallery, Mexico City
My House Is Your House. LAND, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
2008
An Animal Loses Its Life Because Another Is Hungry. Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City
2007
Den of Miscreants. Trolebús Gallery, Mexico City
We All Have Dirty Shoes. ARCOmadrid – Project Room, KBK Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid
2006
House Cart Car. 9th Havana Biennale, Havana
2005
Urban Urgency. KBK Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
Group Exhibitions
2023
Tracing the World’s Footprint. NF/NIEVES FERNÁNDEZ, Madrid
Personal Showcase. Rolando Anselmi Galerie, Rome, Italy
2019
The Material Order of Things. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Monterrey
In Order of Appearance. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid
2018
No Place. Berlin
2017
Mexibiliti. Casa del Lago (UNAM), Mexico City
2015
Everything You Are I Am Not. Tiroche DeLeon Collection, Miami
Traces and Vestiges: Inquiries on the Present. Museo Amparo, Puebla
Latin American Roaming Art. Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City
A Sense of a Space. Mana Contemporary, Miami
2014
The Disarray. The Curious Case of the Untidy Art. ARTIUM, Vitoria
2013
Metal Coyote. Y Gallery, New York
Museo de la Nación, Lima
Dracula Effect. Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City
2012
30th São Paulo Biennial. The Imminence of Poetics, São Paulo
The Hour and the Sites. MACO, Oaxaca
Invisible Maps. Galería Luis Adelantado, Mexico City
2011
Time of Suspicion. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City
NOW. Centro Cultural Cabañas, Guadalajara
Mexico. Poetry and Politics. Nordic Watercolor Museum, Stockholm
Sparkle. JUMEX Collection, Mexico City
Honor. Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles
Mexico. Poetry and Politics. San Francisco State University
Mexico Expected/Unexpected. MOCA, San Diego
2010
Educating Knowledge. MUSAC, León
Where Do We Go From Here?. Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati
Viva la Revolución. MOCA, San Diego
2009
Where Do We Go From Here?. Bass Museum, Miami
Zwischen Zonen. MUMOK, Vienna
2008
The Lines of the Hand. MUAC, Mexico City
Schweiz Über Alles. JUMEX Collection, Mexico City
Fortunate Objects. CIFO Collection, Miami
2007
International Triennial of Architecture, Lisbon
2006
Skier at the Bottom of a Well. JUMEX Collection, Mexico City
Blindness. MACO, Oaxaca
Light/Art. Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara
Awards
Tiroche DeLeon Residency, Jaffa, Israel
LARA Latin American Roaming Art, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City
30th São Paulo Biennial. The Imminence of Poetics
Younger than Jesus: The Artist Directory. New Museum, New York & Phaidon Press
CIFO Grants & Commissions Program Awards, Miami
Triennale Internacional de Arquitectura, Lisbon
SIVAM Visual Arts Acquisition Prize, Mexico City
Collections
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
SMAK, Ghent
JUMEX Collection, Mexico City
Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), Los Angeles
ARTIUM, Vitoria
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
MACO, Oaxaca
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City
Museo Amparo, Puebla
CIFO Collection, Miami
ABN/AMRO Kunststichting, Amsterdam
Perez Art Museum (PAMM), Miami
Peter Stuyvesant Collectie, Netherlands
SPACE Collection, California
PMMK, Oostende
Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, The Hague
Banco F. van Lanschot, Den Bosch
AXA Collection, Madrid
Fondation Carmignac, Porquerolles
Banco Sabadell Collection, Barcelona
Celia Sredni Birbragher Collection, Bogotá
Tiroche DeLeon Collection, Israel
Americas Collection, ASU Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
Bergé Collection, Madrid
FEMSA Collection, Monterrey
Juan Beckmann, Mexico City
David Chipperfield, London
Pepe Cobo, Madrid
Teófilo Cohen Collection, Mexico City
Isabel and Agustin Coppel Collection, Culiacán
Nanette Gehrig, Monte Carlo
Boris Hirmas Collection, Mexico City
Adsia City Trust Collection, Singapore and Australia
David Johnson, Los Angeles
Kells Collection, Santander
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle
Press
2020 – El Cultural – ARCO 2020
2019 – PAC Plataforma de Arte Contemporáneo – Entrevista a Moris
2015 – Forbes México – Moris: el artista rebelde que va y viene del infierno
2008 – ARTFORUM – Moris. El Eco Experimental Museum