Santiago Sierra

Santiago Sierra

Madrid, Spain, 1966. Lives and works in Madrid, Spain and Mexico City.

The work of Santiago Sierra has been characterized by situations where survival is a fundamental element. He translates this into an artistic practice that investigates inhuman aspects of the economic system, the mechanisms of corruption and the labor exploitation of the individual. He links diverse references with reality as an exploration of a world articulated by critical discourse for the art world and its agents.

In the nineties, his projects were known for establishing systems of negotiation with third parties to carry out actions that generally occupy a public space to demonstrate the materialistic procedures related to the systemic violence of capitalism and the working conditions that are generated from it. This body of work has questioned the function of institutional structures, control over the public space, the emergence of informal architectures in the urban landscape associated with forms of survival, and the conditions of disuse and disposal not only from the point of view of the material but also as a reflection of social contrasts.

Cerdos devorando la península ibérica | Impresión fotográfica díptico | 124 x 220cm | 2013

Cerdos devorando la península ibérica | Photographic diptych print | 124 x 220cm | 2014

Trozos de calle arrancada | 100 x 100 cm | 1992

Trozos de calle arrancada | 100 x 100 cm | 1992

With this work and the respective documentation Sierra directs the viewer's experience towards the brutality of reality through the scenes he reproduces and which, in fact, repeats the operations of power he criticizes as a strategy.

Cubo de carroña de 100 cm de lado | Plata sobre gelatina | 150 x 221cm | 2015

Cubo de carroña | Silver gelatin print | 150 x 221 cm | 2015

Placa | Ciudad de México | 2015

Plate | 2015

Yunque | Ciudad de México | 2015

The Anveil | Mexico City | 2015

La lona | 15 personas bajo una lona Medidas variables | 2015

La lona | 15 young people under a tarpaulin Dimensions variable | 2015

Los encargados | Colaboración con Jorge Galindo Gran Vía, Madrid, España | 2012

Those in Charge | Collaboration with Jorge Galindo Gran Vía, Madrid, España | 2012

Los encargados | Colaboración con Jorge Galindo Gran Vía, Madrid, España | 2012

Those in Charge | Collaboration with Jorge Galindo Gran Vía, Madrid, España | 2012

El graffiti más grande del mundo | Campo de refugiados de Smara, Argelia | 2012

World’s largest graffiti | Smara refugee camp, Argelia | 2012

Edificio iluminado | C-Print | 245 x 150cm | 2003

Edificio iluminado | C-Print | 245 x 150 cm | 2003

His work is associated with premises of minimalism and conceptualism and takes form from the sculptural, documentation, public events, film projects and photography to reveal the perversity of power. The characteristic titles also serve as an instruction for operation or reproduction and reinforce the questioning of the positive use of the image held by the capitalist system.

Related Exhibitions

52 Lienzos expuestos al aire de la Ciudad de México

Nov 07 2019 - Jan 11 2020

52 Lienzos expuestos al aire de la Ciudad de México

Santiago Sierra

Summer Show

Jul 13 2018 - Aug 23 2018

Summer Show

Labor

La Lona

Feb 03 2015 - Mar 21 2015

La Lona

Santiago Sierra

Related Publications

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