"We often have a conventional idea of reality, one that is generally inherited or conveyed through the media. An important objective of my artistic practice, regardless of the outcome, is for each viewer to experience rethinking some of these notions."

1. BIOGRAPHY

Yoshua Okón blends mediums, including video, installation, and performance in order to engage the viewer in a dialogue concerning the complexity of contemporary society. His work, like a series of experiments executed for the camera, blends staged situations, documentation and improvisation and questions habitual perceptions of reality and truth, selfhood and morality. In 1994, he founded La Panadería, an artist-run space in Mexico City. In 2002 Okón received an MFA from UCLA with a Fullbright scholarship. His solo shows exhibitions include: Yoshua Okón: DEMO, MoCA, Tucson Arizona (2024); Punto Ciego, Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City (2024); Poder, Matucana 100, Santiago, Chile (2019); Oracle, Blaffer Museum, Houston, USA (2019); Yoshua Okón, Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles (2018); Shita (Under), Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan (2018); Collateral, MUAC, Mexico City and Amparo Museum, Puebla (2017); Yoshua Okón: In the Land of Ownership, ASAKUSA, Tokio (2016); Saló Island, UC Irvine, Irvine (2014); Piovra, Kaufmann Repetto, Milan (2012); Poulpe, Mor Charpentier, Paris (2012); Octopus, Cornerhouse, Manchester and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2011); Ventanilla Única, Museo Carillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico (2009) and SUBTITLE, Städtische Kunsthalle, Munich (2008); Bocanegra, The Project, New York, USA (2007); Gaza Stripper, Herzeliya Museum, Herzeliya, Israel (2006); Cockfight, Galleria Francesca Kaufmann, Milan, Italy (2003); Oríllese a la Orilla, Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland.

Okón has been part of collective shows such as: The Imperial Ghost in the Neoliberal Machine (Figuring the CIA); e-flux, New York, USA (2019); Latinoamerica en las colecciones CA2M y Fundación ARCO, Alcalá 31, Madrid, Spain (2019); Manifesta 11, Zurich (2016); Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul; Gwangju Biennale, Korea (2014); Antes de la resaca, MUAC, Mexico City (2011); Incongruous, Musèe Cantonal des Beux-Arts (2011), Lausanne; The Mole’s Horizon, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels (2010); Mercosur Biennial, Porto Alegre (2007); Amateurs, CCA Wattis; San Francisco (2008); Laughing in a Foreign Language, Hayward Gallery, London (2008); Adaptive Behaviour, New Museum; New York (2004); Mexico City: an exhibition about the exchange rates between bodies and values, PS1, MoMA, NY, and Kunstwerke, Berlin (2002).
His work is in important collections including the Tate Modern, London, England; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Hammer Museum; Los Angeles, USA; LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA; MUAC, Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; Fundación ARCO, Madrid, Spain; MALI, Museo de Arte de Lima, Lima, Perú and Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, USA.