Artist and educator based in New York, and co-founder and co-director of NuMu (Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporáneo), an egg-shaped museum located in Guatemala City that aims to satiate the lack of other contemporary art institutions in the country.
EDUCATION
2011 Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, Hunter College, New York, US
2003 Studies of Visual Arts, Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Guatemala
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS
2023 Levantamiento: A Collective Unshaping, The Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, El Paso, Texas
2022 Nothing Concrete (Nada concreto), Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City
2017 NuMu, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, California, US
2015 Tasting: Sephardic Architecture, Plato's Cave at EIDIA, Brooklyn, New York, US
2008 CONFORT, Centro Cultural Metropolitano, Guatemala City
GROUP EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS
2023
We didn’t ask permission, we just did it…, Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY)
2022
In Practice: Literally means collapse, SculptureCenter, New York
We didn’t ask permission, we just did it…, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, MO
La imagen quema: perspectivas del videoarte en Guatemala, Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala City
2021
perdidos. en medio. juntos., 22 Bienal de Arte Paiz, Antigua, Guatemala
Primeros Amaneceres en la Tierra, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City
2020
Somos aunque nos olviden, film screening, Torre de Tlatelolco, Mexico City
StorefrontTV Season 3: On Maintenance, New York
Feminine(s): visualities, actions and affections, 12 Mercosur Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Los Jardineros, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City
2019
PASOS A DESNIVEL, Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala City
2018
Scripted Reality, Museo Jumex, CDMX, Mexico City
Queenie: Selected artworks by female artists from El Museo del Barrio’s Collection, Hunter East Harlem Gallery, New York
SITElines Biennial: Casa Tomada, SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico
Video SUR, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
A Domestic Life, Salon ACME, Mexico City
2017
A Universal History of Infamy, LACMA, Los Angeles, California
Home-So Different, So Appealing, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Home-So Different, So Appealing, LACMA, Los Angeles, California
Guatemala from 33,000 Kilometers: Contemporary Art from 1960-Present, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, California
Weapon of Choice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York
2016
2da Gran Bienal Tropical, Loíza, Puerto Rico
Net[ ]Work, 18th Street Arts Center (online exhibition), Los Angeles, California
2015
Objeto-espacio, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City
Guatemala Después, Parsons The New School for Design, New York and Ciudad Imaginación, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
2014
Playing with Fire: Political Interventions, Dissident Acts, and Mischievous Actions,
El Museo del Barrio, New York
Flow: Economies of the Look and Creativity in the Contemporary Art of the Caribbean”, Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center, Washington DC
El Museo de la Luna, Espacio S1, Guatemala City
El rayo que cayó dos veces, Concepción 41, Antigua, Guatemala
2013
Aproximaciones al Espacio, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San José, Costa Rica
Dependencia In Dependencia, Sol del Río, Guatemala City
Cinco Días (Puertas Abiertas), Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala City
Proyectos Ultravioleta Presents…, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San José Costa Rica
Voces y Visiones: Highlights from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio, Nevada Museum of Art, Nevada
Neo-Domesticities, Brooklyn International Performance Art Festival, Glasshouse, New York
Color & Unrest, TEOR/ética, San José, Costa Rica
Victory, IV Soldiers Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
No Wave Performance Task Force: Love, Panoply Performance Lab, Brooklyn, New York
2012
Color & Unrest, Art Bus, New York
En la curvatura del tiempo: Arte y Mujer, Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala City
Convivir/Compartir, 18 Bienal de Arte Paiz, Guatemala City
Proyectos Ultravioleta presents..., Christinger de Mayo Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
Lawn School, NurtureArt, Brooklyn, New York
Toys & Games With A Twist, Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, New York
Así Que Se Vaya, Kamín, Comalapa, Guatemala
2011
El Museo’s 6th Bienal: The (S) Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York
Así Que se Vaya, MDE11, Medellín, Colombia
Me Asusta Pero Me Gusta: Arte Actual de Guatemala, Proyectos Diablo Rosso, Panamá
Ciudad Como Escenario e Idea, Galería Kilometro Cero, Guatemala City
2010
De Guatemala a Guatepeor, Proyectos Sauna, Bogotá, Colombia
Los Padres, la Distancia y el Speed, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City
Push/Pull, DUMBO Arts Festival, Brooklyn, New York
Duality, 92Y Tribeca, New York
2009
Juannio, Benefit auction, Museo de Arte Moderno, Guatemala City
Crema Fresca, Galería 9.99/proyecto, Guatemala City
16 Bienal de Arte Paiz, Centro Cultural Metropolitano, Guatemala City
11 Festival del Centro Histórico, Centro Cultural Metropolitano, Guatemala City
2008 Los Desaparecidos/Horror Vacui, Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española, Antigua, Guatemala
2006
2da Muestra de Arte Emergente Centroamericano, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San José, Costa Rica
RESIDENCIES & GRANTS
2023 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Crafts/Sculpture
2022 Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation Artist Grant
2016 NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittances Grant
2015 Artist in residence, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, Los Angeles
2014 Beca Catalizadora, TEOR/éTica, San José, Costa Rica
CURATORIAL WORK
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Co-founder/co-director of the Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (NuMu), Guatemala City and the US (2012-present)
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Panelist, BANCARTE Prize for emerging artists from Costa Rica (2020)
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Panelist, The 2017 CPPC Travel Award for Central America and the Caribbean, the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection & Independent Curators International, New York (2017)
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Panelist, Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) Fellowships 2013, Bronx Council for the Arts, New York (2013)
TALKS AND LECTURES
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Seminar, Narrating Art and Feminisms: Eastern Europe and Latin America, University of Warsaw, Poland. October 24, 2022 (video conference)
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ICAA Ideas Council: Beyond institutions: New models of artistic interaction in Latin America, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. March 4-5, 2018
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The Fifth Latino Art Now! Re-imaging Global Intersections Conference, "Contemporary Art and the Central American Diaspora" roundtable, Chicago. April 7-9, 2016
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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López, Pancho. Centroamérica en Acción, performance. San José, Costa Rica: Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, 2021. p44. Print.
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Frieze Issue 214, (October, 2020). Conversation between co-directors of NuMu, Stefan Benchoam and Jessica Kairé and Evan Moffitt, Senior Editor of Frieze. Read interview here
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Meyer, Charlotte. NuMu: Artists respond to their environment. Voices in Contemporary Art., 28 February 2020. Web. Read article here
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Kairé, J. (2019, December 10). Transcript from Conversation with Jessica Kairé, Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (NuMu) (Klein, A & Noor, T., interviewers). I is for Institute/ICA Philadelphia. Web. Read interview here
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Casa Tomada/SITElines.2018: New Perspectives on Art of the Americas. 2018. Exhibition catalogue. New Mexico: SITE Santa Fe. Print.
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Home-So Different So Appealing. 2017. Exhibition catalogue. California: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Print.
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Flow: Economies of the Look and Creativity in the Contemporary Art of the Caribbean. 2014. Exhibition catalogue. Washington: Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center. Print.
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De la Barra, P.L. “Dispatch: Guatemala City.” Guggenheim Blogs, Guggenheim Museum, October 30, 2013. Web. Read article here
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De la Barra, Pablo León.” Centre for the Aesthetic Revolution, 19 August 2012. Web. Read article here
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Fuentes Guaza, Luisa. Contemporary languages from Centro América. Salamanca: Imprenta Kadmos, 2013. 20-25. Print.
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De la Barra, P.L. “Welcome NuMu, A Museum in an Egg, Guatemala's Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporaneo.” Centre for the Aesthetic Revolution, 19 August 2012. Web. Read article here
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XVIII Bienal de Arte Paiz: Convivir/Compartir. 2012. Exhibition catalogue. Guatemala: Centro Cultural Metropolitano
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Cotter, H. “Artists Whose Vitality Flows From the Streets.” The New York Times [New York] 17 June 2011. pC25. Print.
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“Voices Choices.” The Village Voice, [New York] 13 June 2011. Cover and p21. Print.
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The S-Files/El Museo's Bienal. 2011. Exhibition catalogue. New York: El Museo del Barrio. Print.
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XVI Bienal de Arte Paiz. 2009. Exhibition catalogue. Guatemala: Centro Cultural Metropolitano. Print.
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Los Desaparecidos/Horror Vacui. 2009. Exhibition catalogue. Guatemala: Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Expañola. Print.