Allora & Calzadilla

Through a complex research-oriented practice, Allora & Calzadilla critically address the intersections and complicities between the cultural, the historical and the geopolitical. The interdisciplinary nature of their interventions is echoed by an expanded use of the artistic medium that includes performance, sculpture, sound, video and photography. Their dynamic engagement with the art historical results in an acute attention to both the conceptual and the material, the metaphoric as well as the literal. The Puerto Rico-based artists have studied the ephemeral nature of collective drawing with monumental sticks of chalk at the Biennial de Lima, Peru (Chalk [Lima], 1998–2002); the imprints of colonial, nationalist, and military violence on the diverse populations and landscapes of Vieques, Puerto Rico (Land Mark (Foot Prints), 2001–2002; Land Mark, 2003; Returning a Sound, 2004; Under Discussion, 2006 and Half Mast/Full Mast, 2011); and the resonance of playing, warping and combining music from various moments in history (Clamor, 2006; Wake Up, 2007; Sediments Sentiments- Figures of Speech, 2008; Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on Ode to Joy for a Prepared Piano, 2008; Raptor’s Rapture, 2012; Apotomē, 2013; 3, 2013); as well as the entanglement between biophysics, semiotics and actuality (Growth, 2004; Puerto Rican Light - Cueva Vientos, 2015).

Allora and Calzadilla live and work in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Jennifer Allora (b. 1974) received a BA from the University of Richmond in Virginia (1996) and an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2003); Guillermo Calzadilla (b. 1971, Cuba) received a BFA from Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico (1996) and an MFA from Bard College (2001). Collaborating since 1995, Allora & Calzadilla were finalists for the Hugo Boss Prize (2006) and the Nam June Paik Award (2006). Select recent solo exhibitions include 'Specters of Noon', The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, USA (2020); 'Chalk', Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA (2019); 'The Tropical Pharmacy', Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain (2019); ‘Hope Hippo’, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico (2018); 'La noche que volvimos a ser gente', El Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia (2018); Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain (2018); 'Blackout', MAXXI, Rome, Italy (2018); ‘Allora & Calzadilla: Echo to Artifact’, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (2016); ALT Art Space, Istanbul, Turkey (2016); ‘Split The Lark’, Royaumont Abbey, Asnières-sur-Oise, France (2016); ‘Puerto Rican Light (Cueva Vientos)’, a DIA Art Foundation Commission in Guayanilla/Penuelas Puerto Rico (2015); ‘Intervals’, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA (2014); Kaldor Public Art Projects, Sydney, Australia (2012); Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, USA (2012); ‘Performance 9: Allora & Calzadilla’, MoMA, New York, NY, USA (2010); The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway (2009); Temporäre Kunstalle Berlin, Berlin, Germany (2009); ‘Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on Ode to Joy for a Prepared Piano’, Haus der Kunst München, Munich, Germany (2008); ‘Never Mind that Noise you Heard’, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2008); ‘Clamor’, Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2007); Kunsthalle Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland (2007); ‘Wake Up, The Renaissance Society’ at The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US (2007); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK (2007); and ‘Land Mark’, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2006). They have participated in various biennales, such as the 56th, 54th and 51st Biennale di Venezia International Art Exhibition, Venice, Italy (2015, 2011, 2005); the 10th and 7th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea (2014, 2008); the 9th and 6th Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2013, 2007); the 30th Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana Slovenia (2013); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012); the 12th and 10th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey (2011, 2007); the 29th and 14th Biennial de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2010, 1998); 16th Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2008); the 9th Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, France (2007); the 1st and 2nd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (2005, 2007); the 14th, 13th and 8th Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2019, 2017, 2007); the 2006 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum, New York, NY, USA (2006); the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China (2005); the 6th Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal (2004); the 3rd Biennale Iberoamericana, Lima, Peru (2002); and the 7th Biennial de la Habana, Havana, Cuba (2000). They are the recipients of other prizes, including DAAD, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (2008-2009); the Gwangju Biennial Prize (2004); Penny McCall Foundation Grant (2003); Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant (2002); and the Cintas Fellowship (2002-2001).

Allora & Calzadilla
Aeolian Chart

2022
Watercolor on paper
129.5 x 208.3 cm
51 x 82 in
Framed: 134.6 x 214.9 cm
Framed: 53 x 84 5/8 in

Electromagnetic Field (July 27, 2020, Meter Number 96215234, Fuel Charge Adj 2,800kWh x $0.05534, Purchase Power Charge Adj 2,800kWh x $0.046489, Municipalities Adj 2,800kWh x $0.004094, Subsidies, Public Light & other Subv HH, 2,800kWh x $0.008991, Subsi

Allora & Calzadilla
Electromagnetic Field (July 27, 2020, Meter Number 96215234, Fuel Charge Adj 2,800kWh x $0.05534, Purchase Power Charge Adj 2,800kWh x $0.046489, Municipalities Adj 2,800kWh x $0.004094, Subsidies, Public Light & other Subv HH, 2,800kWh x $0.008991, Subsi

2020
Magnetite on linen
243.8 x 182.9 x 4.4 cm
96 x 72 x 1 3/4 in

Electromagnetic Field (September 1, 2020, Meter Number 96215234, Consumption Charge 425kWh x $0.04944, Consumption Charge for Additional 805 kWh x $0.05564, Fuel Charge 1,230kWh x $0.05534, Purchase Power Charge 1,230kWh x $0.046489, Municipalities Charge

Allora & Calzadilla
Electromagnetic Field (September 1, 2020, Meter Number 96215234, Consumption Charge 425kWh x $0.04944, Consumption Charge for Additional 805 kWh x $0.05564, Fuel Charge 1,230kWh x $0.05534, Purchase Power Charge 1,230kWh x $0.046489, Municipalities Charge

2020
Iron filings on mirror foil
209.5 x 208.5 x 4.5 cm
82 3/8 x 82 x 1 3/4 in

Allora & Calzadilla
Cephalic Signal

2017
Digital C-Print
66 x 46 cm
26 x 18 1/8 in

Allora & Calzadilla
Graft

2019
17,500 flowers
Recycled polyvinyl chloride and paint

Installation view of Graft, 2019 at The Menil Collection. Commissioned by Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow; courtesy of the artists and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels © Allora & Calzadilla. Photography: Paul Hester

Allora & Calzadilla
Blackout

2020
Power transformer, bronze, electricity, vocalists
306.1 x 217.2 x 200 cm
120 1/2 x 85 1/2 x 78 3/4 in
Installation view, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX. Photo: Paul Hester

Allora & Calzadilla
Blackout

2020
Power transformer, bronze, electricity, vocalists
306.1 x 217.2 x 200 cm
120 1/2 x 85 1/2 x 78 3/4 in
Installation view, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX. Photo: Paul Hester

Allora & Calzadilla
Blackout

2020
Power transformer, bronze, electricity, vocalists
306.1 x 217.2 x 200 cm
120 1/2 x 85 1/2 x 78 3/4 in
Installation view, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX. Photo: Paul Hester

Allora & Calzadilla
The Night We Became People Again

2017
Digital HD video, colour, sound
15 minutes 7 seconds

Allora & Calzadilla
The Night We Became People Again

2017
Digital HD video, colour, sound
15 minutes 7 seconds

Allora & Calzadilla
The Night We Became People Again

2017
Digital HD video, colour, sound
15 minutes 7 seconds

Allora & Calzadilla
Entelechy

2020
Coal, vocalists, pre-recorded audio
434.9 x 950.9 x 1476.4 cm
171 1/8 x 374 1/4 x 581 1/4 in
Installation view, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX. Photo: Paul Hester

Allora & Calzadilla
Entelechy

2020
Coal, Vocalists, Pre-recorded audio
434.9 x 950.9 x 1476.4 cm
171 1/8 x 374 1/4 x 581 1/4 in
Installation view, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX. Photo: Fredrik Nilsen

Allora & Calzadilla
Entelechy

2020
Coal, vocalists, pre-recorded audio
434.9 x 950.9 x 1476.4 cm
171 1/8 x 374 1/4 x 581 1/4 in
Installation view, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX. Photo: Paul Hester

Allora & Calzadilla
Ellipsis (Lycopodiophyta)

2018
Plant fossils, coal, bioresin 74 x 94 cm 29 1/8 x 37 in

Allora & Calzadilla
Ellipsis (Lycopodiophyta)

2018
Plant fossils, coal, bioresin 74 x 94 cm 29 1/8 x 37 in