Pedro Reyes

Pedro Reyes has won international attention for large-scale projects that address current social and political issues. Through a varied practice utilising sculpture, performance, video, and activism, Reyes explores the power of individual and collective organisation to incite change through communication, creativity, happiness, and humour. A socio-political critique of contemporary gun culture is addressed in Reyes’s ongoing Palas por Pistolas, in which the artist worked with local authorities in Culiacán, Mexico, to melt down guns into shovels, then used to plant trees in cities elsewhere in the world. Similarly, in Reyes’ major continuing Disarm series, firearms confiscated by the Mexican government and donated to Reyes have been transformed into instruments, which are then activated by local musicians. Issues of community and compassion are addressed in Sanatorium, activated at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (2011), dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel, Germany (2012), The Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (2013) and at The Power Plant in Toronto and The Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami (2014). In this work, visitors are invited to sign up for a ‘temporary clinic,’ with the mission of treating various kinds of urban malaise. His immersive exhibition Doomocracy, organised by Creative Time at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, was a ‘political house of horrors’ marking the confluence of two events haunting the American cultural imagination at the time: Halloween and the 2016 US presidential election. Most recently, Reyes has worked with The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and ICAN to stage anti-nuclear protests and performances across the world. Titled, Amnesia Atómica ZERO NUKES, this movement has found platforms in New York; Mexico City; Vienna and Oslo. Alongside these performative, socially engaged strands of his practice, Reyes continues to make sculpture. Carved in red and black volcanic stone, marble and jadeite, these often monumental works that weave between figuration and abstraction reference sources as diverse as Greco Roman statuary; British Modernism and Mesoamerican sculpture.

Reyes (b. 1972, Mexico City) lives and works in Mexico City. He studied architecture at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City. Solo exhibitions have been held with SITE Santa Fe, NM, USA (2023); MARTa Herford, Herford, Germany (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico (2022); MAAT, Lisbon, Portugal (2021); Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland (2020); SCAD, Georgia, USA (2019); Creative Time, New York, USA (2016); Dallas Contemporary, TX, USA (2016); La Tallera, Cuernavaca, Mexico (2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA (2015); ICA, Miami, FL, USA (2014); The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada (2014); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA (2011); Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA (2011); CCA Kitakyushu, Japan (2009); Bass Museum, Miami, FL, USA (2008;) and San Francisco Art Institute, CA, USA (2008). Reyes has participated in group exhibitions at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2015); The National Museum of XXI Century Arts (MAXXI), Rome (2015); Beijing Biennale, China (2014); Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2013); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012); Liverpool Biennial, UK (2012); Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2012); Lyon Biennale, France (2009); and the 50th Venice Biennale, Italy (2003). In Fall 2016, Reyes served as the inaugural Dasha Zhukova Distinguished Visiting Artist at MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Current and recent projects:

'DIRECT ACTION', SITE Santa Fe, NM, USA, 3 February - 1 May 2023

Pedro Reyes
Totem (Huehueteotl)

2021
Tezontle stone 230 x 75 x 70 cm / 90 1/2 x 29 1/2 x 27 1/2 in

Pedro Reyes
Citlali

2021
Volcanic stone 85 x 96 x 49 cm / 33 3/8 x 37 3/4 x 19 1/4 in

Pedro Reyes
Tetla

2021
Acrylic on amate paper

Pedro Reyes
Cosmos

2020
Volcanic Stone 284 x 87 x 87 cm / 111 3/4 x 34 1/4 x 34 1/4 in

Pedro Reyes
Rotoid

2020
Brown Tezontle 90 x 90 x 53 cm / 35 3/8 x 35 3/8 x 20 3/4 in

Pedro Reyes
Pliegue

2019
Carrara marble 60 x 22 x 28 cm / 23 1/2 x 8 5/8 x 11 in

Pedro Reyes
Scribe

2019
Volcanic stone 71 x 44 x 78 cm / 27 7/8 x 17 1/4 x 30 5/8 in

Pedro Reyes
Seated Figure

2018
Marble 55 x 75 x 89 cm / 21 5/8 x 29 1/2 x 35 in

Pedro Reyes
Seer

2018
Volcanic stone 65 x 74 x 52 cm / 25 5/8 x 29 1/8 x 20 1/2 in

Pedro Reyes
Jaguar

2018
Volcanic stone 64 x 71 x 43 cm / 25 1/4 x 28 x 16 7/8 in

Pedro Reyes
Spiral Nude

2018
Bronze 70 x 103 x 45 cm / 27 1/2 x 40 1/2 x 17 3/4 in

Pedro Reyes
Lithophone (Hexatonal)

2018
Black Marble 110 x 35 x 29 cm / 43 1/4 x 13 3/4 x 11 3/8 in

Pedro Reyes
Infinity Chair

2018
White Marble 85 x 200 x 95 cm / 33 3/8 x 78 5/8 x 37 3/8 in

Pedro Reyes
Versus Machina

2018
Bronze 154 x 119 x 90 cm / 60 5/8 x 46 7/8 x 35 3/8 in

Pedro Reyes
Double Helix

2018
Bronze 72 x 72 x 78 cm / 28 1/4 x 28 1/4 x 30 5/8 in ed. 2 of 5 + 2 APs

Pedro Reyes
Protester III

2018
Bronze 120 x 50 x 36 cm / 47 1/4 x 19 5/8 x 14 1/8 in

Pedro Reyes
Codex (Red)

2018
Concrete 119 x 117 x 10 cm / 46 3/4 x 46 x 3 7/8 in

Pedro Reyes
Machinic Phylum I

2017
Concrete and steel 53 x 67 x 12 cm / 20 7/8 x 26 3/8 x 4 3/4in

Pedro Reyes
Machinic Phylum II

2017
Concrete and steel 71 x 54 x 12 cm / 28 x 21 1/4 x 4 3/4 in

Pedro Reyes
Sunstone

2016
White onyx 80 x 27 x 25 cm / 31 1/2 x 10 5/8 x 9 7/8 in.

Pedro Reyes
Totem

2015
Volcanic stone 227 x 91 x 109.5 cm / 89 3/8 x 35 7/8 x 43 1/8 in.

Pedro Reyes
Visual Bibliography IV (Notes on non-violence)

2015
Mixed media on stretched canvas 150 x 150 cm / 59 1/8 x 59 1/8 in.

Pedro Reyes
Navaja Suiza VII (Swiss Army Knife VII)

2014
Mixed media sculpture 100 x 46 x 17 cm / 39 3/8 x 18 1/8 x 6 11/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Head of Karl Marx II

2014
Volcanic stone 48 x 77 x 71 cm / 18 7/8 x 30 5/16 x 27 15/16 in. Base: 85 x 75 x 75 cm / 33 7/16 x 29 1/2 x 29 1/2 in.

Pedro Reyes
Colloquium (Ironism)

2014
Marble 240 x 220 x 180 cm / 94 1/2 x 86 5/8 x 70 7/8 in.

Pedro Reyes
Disarm: Installation view, Lisson Gallery, London

2013
Installation view

Pedro Reyes
Disarm: Installation view, Lisson Gallery, London

2013
Installation view

Pedro Reyes
Disarm LP

LP record

Pedro Reyes
Disarm (Trigger Puller)

2013
Metal 118 x 170 x 170 cm / 46 7/16 x 66 15/16 x 66 15/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Disarm (Xylophone)

2013
Metal 43 x 35 x 30 cm / 16 15/16 x 13 3/4 x 11 13/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Disarm (Kalashniclock)

2013
Metal 110 x 115 x 115 cm / 43 5/16 x 45 1/4 x 45 1/4 in.

Pedro Reyes
Disarm, (Violin III)

2013
Metal Approx. dimensions: 67 x 23 x 13 cm / 26 3/8 x 9 1/16 x 5 1/8 in.

Pedro Reyes
Disarm (Psaltery)

2013
Recycled metal 32 x 89 x 24 cm / 12 5/8 x 35 1/16 x 9 7/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Disarm (Psaltery)

2013
Recycled metal 32 x 89 x 24 cm / 12 5/8 x 35 1/16 x 9 7/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Disarm (Pan pipes)

2013
Metal 18 x 21 x 15 cm / 7 1/16 x 8 1/4 x 5 15/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Disarm (Mechanized)

2012
Recycled Metal Installation comprising of 8 mechanised instruments Dimensions variable

Pedro Reyes
Disarm (Wind Chime)

2013
Metal 166 x 65 x 65 cm / 65 3/8 x 25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Melodrama and Other Games

2012
Group activities, posters Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and FACT

Pedro Reyes
Pico della Mirandola

2012
-

Pedro Reyes
Machine Music (Tank 2)

2013
Photographic print on canvas and collage 191 x 95 cm / 75 3/16 x 37 3/8 in.

Pedro Reyes
Machine Music (Decoy)

2013
Photographic print on canvas and collage 124 x 94 cm / 48 13/16 x 37 in.

Pedro Reyes
Machine Music (Tank 9)

2013
Photographic print on canvas on wood 113 x 110 cm / 44 1/2 x 43 5/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Machine Music (Tank 8)

2013
Photographic print on canvas and collage 105.5 x 210.5 cm / 41 9/16 x 82 7/8 in.

Pedro Reyes
Imagine (Guitar)

2012
Recycled Metal 77 x 27 x 10 cm / 30 5/16 x 10 5/8 x 3 15/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Imagine (Guitar)

2012
Recycled Metal 77 x 27 x 10 cm / 30 5/16 x 10 5/8 x 3 15/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Sanatorium

2011- present
Group activity, props, relational objects

Pedro Reyes
Imagine (Rain Stick)

2012
Recycled Metal 90 x 15 x 20 cm / 35 7/16 x 5 15/16 x 7 7/8 in.

Pedro Reyes
Imagine (Tubular Bells)

2012
Recycled Metal 197 x 160 x 30 cm / 77 9/16 x 63 x 11 13/16 in.

Pedro Reyes
Baby Marx

2008
Wooden puppets, library set, video production Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Pedro Reyes
Capula Expanded Dodecahedron

2009 - 2010
Stainless steel frame woven in vynil cord

Pedro Reyes
Palas por Pistolas (Guns for Shovels)

2007 - present
Installation view at Biennale de Lyon, 2009 1,527 collected guns melted into steel to fabricate 1,527 shovels, to plant 1,527 trees. Artwork © Pedro Reyes. Photo by Stéphane Rambaud, Courtesy of Biennale de Lyon.