Teresa Margolles (b. 1963 Culiacán, Mexico) who lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico is undertaking her first residency in the United Kingdom at Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GSS) in Scotland where she is making new work over a three month period, alongside a community of 120 emergent, established and internationally recognised artists who are members of the organisation.
Margolles studied art and communication sciences at the National University of Mexico, followed by a diploma in forensic medicine. She is one of the founders of the group SEMEFO (Servicio Médico Forense/Forensic Medicine Service). Since belonging to SEMEFO, Margolles has chosen as her atelier, first the morgue and the dissecting room, and more recently, the violent streets of Mexico. These are places of death but also places which bear witness to social unrest. For the past two decades, Margolles has not so much worked directly with the remains of bodies but rather with the traces of life, with shrouds, burial and memory, and with the way a violent act shatters human networks and affects them on various levels.
Recent solo exhibitions include Frontera at Museion in Bolzano Italy 2011 and Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel Germany 2010, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Los Angeles California 2010, Recados postumous City Museum in Queretaro Mexico 2009, Galerie Peter Kilchmann Zurich 2009, In Lieu of Acts Anstelle der Tatsachen Kunsthalle Krems Austria 2008, Rubble Contemporary Art project Arcaute in Beijing China 2008 and 127 Bodies Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen Dusseldorf 2006.
Margolles has presented work at Manifesta7 Bolzano 2008, the Liverpool Biennale 2006, the Prague Biennale 2005 and 2003 and the Gwangju Biennale 2004. In 2009 she represented Mexico at the 53rd Venice Biennale presenting What Else Could We Talk About?
Margolles is represented by LABOR Mexico City and Peter Kilchmann Zurich.
Margolles is working with a photographic archive she recovered of more than 4000 images taken in the seventies and eighties in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, by living photographer Luis Alvarado. Today, Juárez is infamous as the one of the murder capitals of the world. Margolles has been scanning, cataloguing and analyzing the negatives in order to - in her own words - "look at the past as a way of understanding the future."
In parallel, Margolles' initial site visit to Glasgow coincided with the riots in England and the days of social and political unrest that followed. Margolles travelled to London to document the aftermath. These photographic records and the debris collected from the streets will form the basis of a new body of work created using GSS production facilities and be the first exhibition in our new premises, The Whisky Bond.
Margolles’ new work aims to reflect on the idea that all places have a story of suffering etched into their past.
Curated Public Programme
Margolles’ new commission is part of GSS’ critically acclaimed public programme of which includes production and research residencies, curated exhibitions of new work, talks, symposia, off-site and artist-led projects and events, alongside professional development, education and community engagement programmes.
Production Residencies are awarded to nationally and/or internationally recognised artists for whom a change of scenery might offer fresh inspiration. They provide the artist/s with a dedicated studio and access to all Artists Facilities and Artists Support Programmes with a view to realising a major project or body of work that is disseminated as part of the Public Programme in the GSS galleries.
Since the inauguration of the Production Residency programme GSS have invited Beagles & Ramsay (2008-09) Siobhán Hapaska (2009-10) Jimmie Durham (2010) and Christine Borland (2010-11) ) and co-commissioned new work with a wide range of national and international partners and funders including Creative Scotland, Henry Moore Foundation and Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. This programme is curated by Amy Sales.
This Production Residency is supported by Creative Scotland, Henry Moore Foundation and Wellcome Trust.
Research Residencies
.Research residencies support a writer, scholar, academic, curator or researcher working nationally and/or internationally, to support existing projects and the development of new ideas over a sustained period of time. This residency format is key to GSS' commitment to enabling the dissemination of contemporary sculptural practices and creative exchanges between visiting resident practitioners and in-house artists as well as the public.
AHM (Ainsley Harding Moffat) have almost completed their three
year
Research Residency at Glasgow Sculpture Studios. They are Sam
Ainsley, David Harding, Sandy Moffat, three of Scotland’s cultural
figures who are recognised individually as having contributed
enormously to Glasgow as a leading centre for contemporary art, to the
city’s cultural life in general, and as promoters of Scotland’s art and
culture around the world.
AHM presented the third and
final symposium entitles State of Play: Art & Culture in
Scotland Today on
01 October 2011 at Dundee Contemporary Arts. Key note speakers included
Gerry Hassan a leading writer and critic on culture and politics.
Presentations were given by Jenny Brownrigg Exhibition Director The
Glasgow School of Art, artist Ross Sinclair and Jean Urquhart MSP. The
event began with a performance event of one minute manifestos by a
wide range of visual artists.
Dr Dominic Paterson is our Research Resident for
2011-12. During his residency Paterson will focus on researching and writing a
series of monographic essays which will make up a new book-length publication.
The book will address questions of history, memory and materiality, with a
particular focus on sculptural practice and on Glasgow as a context for
artistic production. Amongst those artists Paterson will include are a number
of current and former GSS Members.
Dr Dominic Paterson teaches modern and contemporary art and theory at the
University of Glasgow. Amongst his publications are essays on artists such
as Christione Borland, Lucy Gunning, Claire Barclay, Martin Soto Clement, Kate
Davis and Faith Wilding. He is a regular contributor to MAP magazine and in
2010 organised a series of film screenings and talks for Glasgow International
Festival of Visual Art.
International Partnerships
.Glasgow Sculpture Studios will premiere an ambitious group exhibition of new artistic and scientific work by 20 participants from over 8 countries in Summer 2012, along with a city-wide public engagement programe. This work will be informed by their participation in The Clipperton Project, a three-week expedition to the island of Clipperton, an uninhabited French island located 1250 kilometers from the Mexican coast, in March 2012. This exhibition aims to raise awareness of social and enviromental issues, particularly the international debate of climate change. Visit The Clipperton Project via www.theclippertonproject.com
Image Credits:-
What Else Could We Talk About? (Cleaning) Teresa Margolles 2009 © Teresa Margolles Cleaning of the exhibition floors with a mixture of water and blood from murdered people in Mexico. This action took place at least once a day during the extent of the Venice Biennial. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich
Image from Don Luis Alvarado's photographic archive © Luis Alvarado & Teresa Margolles
Anarchy Spreads Performative action & dialogue Glasgow 2011 © Teresa Margolles
