DEMO

Yoshua Okón’s work often blends staged environments with reality and history to raise questions of authenticity, commerce, politics, and cultural exchange. Described by Okón as near-sociological experiments, his works give audiences a unique insight into the subjects he portrays and evokes a sense of interconnectivity with issues normally considered removed from our everyday lives. Okón has exhibited his work in México, England, Germany, Tokyo, France, Italy, Istanbul,  and the US. His work is included in the collections of the Tate Modern, Hammer Museum, LACMA, Colección Jumex and MUAC, among others.

Juan Obando creates artwork that focuses on the critical intervention of social systems and the production of video-performances, post-digital objects, and screen-based installations. In his work, Obando presents the screen as a site where ideology confronts aesthetics and new worlds are speculated. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Arizona State University in Phoenix, AZ. His work has been exhibited in México, France, Colombia, Germany, and the US. His recent solo shows include “Fake New” at General Expenses (Mexico City, México, 2023,) “Summer Sets” in Faneuil Hall (Boston, MA, 2022), and “La Bodeguita de La Concordia” at Galería Santa Fé for the Luis Caballero National Art Prize (Bogotá, Colombia, 2021.) Selected group exhibitions include This Is Perfect, Perfect, Perfect (Transmediale, Berlin, Germany, 2024), The Future Is Not What It Used To Be (Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR, 2023), Game Changers (MAAM, Boston, 2020), Video Sur (Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France, 2018), and Rencontres de la Photographie (Arles, France, 2017). His work is part of collections such as The Perez Museum (Miami, FL, USA) and Kadist (San Francisco, USA, and Paris, France). He was awarded a Rhizome commission from The New Museum in 2012, a MassArt Foundation grant in 2017, and an Art Matters Fellowship in 2019.


Image Credits: Installation view, Juan Obando Yoshua Okón: DEMO, MOCA Tucson, 2024. Photograph by Julius Schlosburg, copyright © jpop photon, 2024.