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Asunción Molinos Gordo
Asunción Molinos Gordo is a research-based artist strongly influenced by disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and cultural studies. In her practice she questions the categories that define “innovation” in mainstream discourses today, working to generate a less urban-centric way of understanding progress. The main focus of her work is contemporary peasantry. Her understanding of the figure of the small or medium farmer is not merely as food producer but as cultural agent, responsible for both perpetuating traditional knowledge and for generating new expertise. She employs installation, photography, video, sound and other media to examine the rural realm driven by a strong desire to understand the value and complexity of its cultural production, as well as the burdens that keep it invisible and marginalized. She has produced work reflecting on land usage, nomad architecture, farmers’ strikes, bureaucracy on territory, transformation of rural labor, biotechnology and global food trade.
Molinos Gordo participated at Helsinki Biennial 2023 curated by Joasia Krysa, with her series ¡Cuánto río allá arriba!, that were also part of the Cuenca Biennial in Ecuador curated by Blanca de la Torre in 2021. She also participated at the XIII Havana Biennial in 2019. Moreover, Molinos Gordo won the Sharjah Biennial Prize 2015 with her project WAM (World Agriculture Museum). In 2024, she will take part of the Biennale Matter of Art, in Prague.
Her work has been exhibited at venues including CA2M, Móstoles (Madrid, Spain); IVAM Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (Valencia, Spain); Jameel Arts Centre (Dubai, UAE); Delfina Foundation (London, UK); Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK); ARNOLFINI (Bristol, UK), The Townhouse Gallery (Cairo, EG), Darat Al Funun (Amman, JO), Tranzit (Prague, CZ), Cappadox Festival (Uchisar-Turkey), The Finnish Museum of Photography (Helsinki, FI), Museo Carrillo Gil (Mexico), MAZ Museo de Arte de Zapopan (Guadalajara, MX), MUSAC (León, ES), CA2M (Madrid, ES), CAB (Burgos, ES), Matadero (Madrid, ES) and La Casa Encendida (Madrid, ES), among others.
Her work is part of public collections including Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation (TBA21), Vienna, Austria; Colección CA2M – Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid, Spain; Colección DKV, Spain; Fundación Calosa, Irapuato, Mexico; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, US; The Khalid Shoman Collection – Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordania; Aileen Getty Collection.
Molinos Gordo currently lives in Madrid, Spain.