Cristóbal Gracia
Mexico City, 1987
Bio

Cristóbal Gracia reconfigures historical milestones and cultural and social phenomena through the investigation, connection and reconstruction of official chronicles, micro-stories and urban myths. His interests focus on the ideological and power systems that govern and have constructed the conception of contemporary Western civilization. Using tools such as humor, fiction, violence, desire, and failure, his work seeks to build baroque systems of disbelief and ostranenie to create the space and means of production necessary to cultivate different subjectivities.

In his work process he involves various creative agents, each participation, collaboration and production context gives a unique specificity to each project. Gracia tends to look for the tensions that art can generate when working with dichotomies and contradictions belonging to different fields of knowledge; in this dialectical process lies the opportunity to reshape life.

Lives and works in Mexico City.


Gracia holds a MFA in Sculpture by the Yale School of Art, class of 2020 - 2022. Also, an BFA from the E.N.P.E.G Esmeralda, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and later he attended to the Programa Educativo SOMA, both in Mexico City. He has been awarded with grants such as the BBVA-MACG Arte Actual and Jóvenes Creadores FONCA in the field of alternative media. He obtained the Fullbright García Robles scholarship and the Fundación Jumex Contemporary Art scholarship for studies abroad.


His work has been exhibited in prominent institutions such as Palais de Tokyo, Lille 3000 Eldorado, Galveston Artist Residency Gallery, Dallas Contemporary, and Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, Museo Tamayo, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Casa del Lago, and ESPAC, among others. In recent years, his pieces have been included in public and private collections such as the Fundación M Collection, Colección Suro, Murderme Collection, Phillips/Yuyito, JK Brown and Eric Diefenbach Collection, and the Museo Comunitario y Club de Lectura Sierra Hermosa.

He has participated in numerous artist residencies, including Bikini Art Residency (Lake Como), Viafarini (Milan), Biennial of the Americas (Denver), Grand Union (Birmingham), Casa Wabi (Puerto Escondido), Casa Nano (Japan), The Art House (Wakefield), Lugar Común (Monterrey), the Henry Moore Foundation (United Kingdom), and NARS Foundation (New York).

In 2015, he was selected as an ambassador artist for the Biennial of the Americas in Denver. He was a member of Biquini Wax EPS until 2020.

Selection of Works
Cristóbal Gracia
“La Adán” / Baroque cultured pearl, “the Adam”
Brass, iron, copper, plaster, ceramic, plastic and styrophoam
73.22 x 25.59 x 23.62 in
2024
Cristóbal Gracia
Baroque Bidimensional Pearl with Orange Background and 13.5% Void. Stage 11
Screen print and collage
78.74 x 49.21 in
2024
Cristóbal Gracia
Fragment of a Baroque Totality and Digestive System
Copper, plasticine and solder
66.9 x 31.4 x 31.4 inches
2022
Cristóbal Gracia
Fragment of a Baroque Totality and Digestive System
Copper, plasticine and solder
43.31 x 27.56 x 23.62 inches
2022
Cristóbal Gracia
Building space
Digital collage, intervened lithography on paper and copper plates
76.77 x 79.72 inches
2022
Cristóbal Gracia
Possible uses of excess, overproduction (and waste)
Emboss and excessive engraving on cotton paper
79.9 x 84.4 in
2022
Cristóbal Gracia
Host and parasite, parasite and host
Airbrush paint
120 x 210 cm
2022
Cristóbal Gracia
Blueprint for a tunnel
Emboss and excessive engraving on cotton paper
205 x 220 cm
2022
Cristóbal Gracia
Teotihuacan-Style Hollow Figurine with Removable Chest Plate or Host Figure, 5th century
Tourist souvenirs from Teotihuacan and Merida (Maya territory), pedestal, polyester resin (Petroleum product) and stone dust
61.4 x 43.3 x 36.6 in
2022
Cristóbal Gracia
Parasite figure
Tourist souvenirs from Teotihuacan and Merida (Maya territory), pedestal, polyester resin (Petroleum product) and stone dust
61.4 x 43.3 x 36.6 in
2022
Cristóbal Gracia
Vitrina III; V-gang –Piltdown Man
Mahogany, Paste, Automotive Paint, Brass, Objects bought from Internet
11 x 7 x 2 feet
2018
Cristóbal Gracia
Vitrina IV; azul IKB-sampuru
Mahogany, Paste, Automotive Paint, Brass, Resin, IKB Pigment
11 x 7 x 2 feet
2018
Cristóbal Gracia
Vitrina II; lámpara de vapor de sodio y aberración cromática
Digital print on cotton paper, wood, glass
51 x 75 inches
2018
Cristóbal Gracia
Maquinaria de producción de flujos reales a presión
Copper pipe, molded copper flowers and ginger roots, and pressed penny die ring
35.43 x 35.43 x 62.99 inches
2021
Cristóbal Gracia
Producción de flujos de deseo a presión
Lithography, print, emboss, copper plate, felt, elongated pennies and walnut
81.1 x 61.42 x 2.36 inches
2021
Cristóbal Gracia
Ghillie. La obra es su misma predecesora, por lo tanto la anterior ya no es anterior sino presente
Ceramics
Variable dimensions
2021
Cristóbal Gracia
MABOYA Fig. 1
Silkscreen print, enamel, ashes, smoke, water, and dirt on linen
78.7 x 37.4 inches
2020
Cristóbal Gracia
MABOYA Fig. 215
Silkscreen print, enamel, ashes, smoke, water, and dirt on linen
78.7 x 43.3 inches
2020
Cristóbal Gracia
Lucciola I
Concrete and Glass
66½ x 17 x 17 inches
2020
Cristóbal Gracia
Lollo
Concrete, Oil Painting, Brass, and Garden Statues
90½ x 25 x 25 inches
2020
Cristóbal Gracia
Camillo
Cement and Garden Sculptures
19½ x 15¾ inches
2020
Cristóbal Gracia
Después de haber permanecido algún tiempo en la entrada, surgieron en mí dos emociones contrarias, el miedo y el deseo, el miedo a la oscura grotta amenazadora, el deseo de ver si había algo maravilloso dentro de ella.
Concrete, resin, pigments, watercolor, polyurethane foam and steel
84.65 x 20.08 x 26.77 inches
2020
Cristóbal Gracia
La sangre se limpia con sangre
Valentina Sauce on Canvas
31½ x 23½ inches
2020
Cristóbal Gracia
Un estanque de lavado de dinero, que también es una pintura pero no es una pintura de un estanque
Valentina Sauce, Whitened Stones, Polyurethane Foam, Sand, Gravel, Glitter, Enamel, Rubber, Wood, Glue, Air Pumps and Coins
Variable Dimensions
2019
Cristóbal Gracia
AQUATANIA: Y vimos en el agua toda suerte de extraños y asombrosos peces, ansí como numerosísimas y hermosas serpientes que ellos llaman lagartos. Llevaba conmigo un mancebo que saltó...; acabó devorado por un lagarto y todos nosotros lo vimos.
C-print, Kodak-kioskprint, Bright Adhesive Tape, Permanent Marker, Ink, Acrylic, and Collage
47 x 33 inches
2018
Cristóbal Gracia
Emociones salvajes
Wooden Panel and Airbrush on Acapulco Tile
10 x 6.5 feet
2017
Cristóbal Gracia
Una tumba no asegura una suite en el infierno y otras manifestaciones del poder después de la muerte
Mixed Media
8 x 3 x 7 feet
2016
Cristóbal Gracia
La isla de las perlas, o cuando las perlas se convirtieron en flores (amapolas) al atardecer
Metal Stretcher, Steel Sheet, Airbrushpaint on “Acapulco” Venetian Tile and Bright Security Tape
64 x 48 inches
2018
Cristóbal Gracia
Denominación de origen
Recipe for "Coco Loco" from Hotel Flamingos, Acapulco
Variable Dimensions
2018
Cristóbal Gracia
Suite Tarzán
Digital Print on Cotton Paper
40½ x 60 inches
2016
Cristóbal Gracia
Los tentáculos del poder
Ink on Cotton Paper
35 x 49 inches
2016
Cristóbal Gracia
Aquatania part I; A man should stand where God places him –jungle trails or Hollywood streets –and fight for those things in which he believes
Full HD Video Still
2016
Cristóbal Gracia
Law Is a Bottomless Pit; or, the other story of John Bull I
Charcoal on Paper
82½ x 106 inches
2017
Cristóbal Gracia
Sa La Na, A Yuum, iasis _ Laissez Faire – Laissez Passer by Biquini Wax EPS
Mixed Media
Variable Dimensions
2019
Cristóbal Gracia
Retrato de Monumento
Metal, Acrylic, Wood, Concrete, Styrofoam, Silicone, Spray Paint, Marker, Collage, Plastic, Confetti, Glass, Balloons, Duct Tape, Fire, Acrylic Paint, Cardboard and Chromed Steel
14 x 5 x 5 feet
2013
Exhibitions at Pequod
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