Miguel Angel Ríos

MIGUEL ANGEL RÍOS (b. 1943, Argentina/Lives in New York and Mexico)

"...I make visible the violent moment in which we live, where we feel that life has no value. It is competition, power, violence, and chaos. The viewer may choose to identify with the powerful or with the vulnerable..."

Miguel Angel Ríos studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires before moving to New York in the 1970s to escape the military dictatorship in Argentina. He subsequently relocated to Mexico and now divides his time between the U.S. and Mexico.

In his work, Ríos pairs a rigorous conceptual approach with a meticulously constructed, often handmade aesthetic. Since the 1970s, he has made work about the concept of the "Latin American," using this idea as both an artistic strategy and a political problem. In the 1990s, he began creating a series of maps, which he carefully folded and pleated by hand. Marking the 500th anniversary of the "discovery" of the Americas, the maps indicate long histories of power and colonial experience, and they reference traditional indigenous arts in the Americas, including the Andean quipu.  

2019
No Way Out, Roda Sten Konsthall Gothenburg, Sweden
Miguel Angel Ríos:  Torn to Shreds, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, Houston, TX, USA
Miguel Angel Ríos: On the Edge, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA

2017
Miguel Angel Rios:  A Morir (To the Death) Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC USA
Miguel Angel Rios: Neither Colour, nor height, MUCEM, Marseilles, France 
Miguel Angel Rios: Acirema, No es agua Ni Arena la Orilla del Mar, Espaivisor Galeria Visor, Valencia Spain

2015
Landlocked, Arizona State University Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Endless, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX

2013
Folding Borders, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX
Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City, Mexico

2012
Museé d’Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne, France
Miguel Angel Ríos: Walkabout, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA and Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico (with exhibition catalogue)

2011
Miguel Angel Ríos, Alonso Garces Galeria, Bogotá, Colombia
Miguel Angel Ríos, Ruth Benzacar Galeria, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Mecha, Nederlans Instituut voor Mediakunst, The Netherlands

2010
Miguel Angel Ríos, Galeria Andres Millan, São Paulo, Brazil
Miguel Angel Ríos, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin City Council, New Zealand

2009
Miguel Angel Ríos, Malba-Fundacíon Costantini, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
On The Edge, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), San Diego, CA
Miguel Angel Ríos, EVO Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP), Paris, France
Crudo, Galerie Akinci, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2008
A Morir, Sala de Arte Contemporáneo, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Aquí, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Crudo, LA><ART, Los Angeles, CA
White Suit, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin, Germany

2007
Aquí, Ex-convento de Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico; Blaffer Art Museum at University of Houston, Houston, TX and EVO Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
On The Edge, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Torino, Italy and ARCO, Madrid, Spain
Fuego Amigo, Ex-convento de la Natividad, Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico
A Morir, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Aquí, Galeria Milan Antonio, São Paulo, Brazil
Concentrations 49: Miguel Angel Ríos, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX

21 C Museum Hotel, Lexington, KY, USA

Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogotá, Colombia

Cisneros Fontalnals Art Foundation (CIFO), Miami, FL, USA

Colección Isabel y Augustín Coppel

Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, NY, USA

Daros Latinamerica Collection, Zürich, Switzerland

Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Diane and Bruce Halle Collection, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Fundación Arte y Mecenazgo, "La Caixa", Barcelona, Spain

Fundación Costantini, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano (MALBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., USA