Jessica Kairé (Guatemala, 1980) is an artist and educator based in New York,
and co-founder and co-director of NuMu (Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporáneo), an egg-shaped museum located in Guatemala City that aims to satiate the lack of other contemporary art institutions in the country.
In her practice, Kairé combines artistic and domestic elements to create works
that engage the public in various forms of activation such as eating, manipulating and wearing. She is particularly interested in appropriating materials, objects and contexts that are informed by personal or collective conflict, and altering the way we relate to them through an often playful and humorous approach.
B. 1980, Guatemala City, Guatemala. Lives and works in New York.
EDUCATION
2010 Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, Hunter College, NY, USA
2003 Studies of Visual Arts, Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Guatemala
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Nothing Concrete (Nada concreto), Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City
2017 NuMu, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, California, US
2015 Tasting: Sephardic Architecture, Plato's Cave at EIDIA, Brooklyn, New York, US
2008 CONFORT, Centro Cultural Metropolitano, Guatemala City
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
In Practice: Literally means collapse, SculptureCenter, New York
La imagen quema: perspectivas del videoarte en Guatemala, Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala City
2021
XYZ Present Future, Artissima Art Fair, Turin, Italy. Presented by Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City
perdidos. en medio. juntos, 22nd Paiz Art Biennial, Guatemala
First Sunrises on Earth, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala
2020
Somos aunque nos olviden, Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco Tlatelolco, Mexico City
StorefrontTV Season 3: On Maintenance, NY
12th Mercosul Biennial, Port Alegre, Brazil
Los Jardineros, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala
2019
PASOS A DESNIVEL, Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala
2018
Scripted Reality, Museo Jumex, CDMX, Mexico
Queenie: Selected artworks by female artists from El Museo del Barrio’s Collection, Hunter East Harlem Gallery, NY
SITElines Biennial: Casa Tomada, SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico
Video SUR, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
A Domestic Life, Salon ACME, CDMX, Mexico
2017
NuMu, Commonwealth & Council, Los Angeles
A Universal History of Infamy, LACMA, US
Home-So Different, So Appealing, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Home-So Different, So Appealing, LACMA, US
Guatemala from 33,000 Kilometers: Contemporary Art from 1960-Present, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, US
Weapon of Choice, Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NY
2016
2da Gran Bienal Tropical, Loíza, Puerto Rico
Net [ ] Work, online exhibition of video art, 18th Street Arts Center, Los Angeles
2015
Objeto-espacio, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala
Guatemala Después, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons The New School for Design, NY and Ciudad Imaginación, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
2014
Playing with Fire: Political Interventions, Dissident Acts, and Mischievous Actions,
El Museo del Barrio, NY
Flow: Economies of the Look and Creativity in the Contemporary Art of the Caribbean” Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center, Washington, DC
El Museo de la Luna, Espacio S1, Guatemala
El rayo que cayó dos veces, Concepción 41, Antigua, Guatemala
In Situ, Espacio S1, Guatemala
2013
Aproximaciones al Espacio, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San Jose, Costa Rica
Dependencia In Dependencia, Sol del Río, Guatemala
Cinco Días (Puertas Abiertas), Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala
Proyectos Ultravioleta Presents..., Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San Jose, Costa Rica
Voces y Visiones: Highlights from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio, Nevada Museum of Art, US
Neo-Domesticities, Brooklyn International Performance Art Festival, Glasshouse, NY
Color & Unrest, TEOR/etica, San José, Costa Rica
Victory, IV Soldiers Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
No Wave Performance Task Force: Love, Panoply Performance Lab, Brooklyn, NY York
2012
Color & Unrest, Art Bus, NY
En la curvatura del tiempo: Arte y Mujer, Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala
Convivir/Compartir, XVIII Paiz Art Biennial, Guatemala
Proyectos Ultravioleta presents..., Christinger de Mayo Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
Lawn School, NurtureArt, Brooklyn, NY
Toys & Games With A Twist, Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
Así Que Se Vaya, Kamín, Comalapa, Guatemala
2011
El Museo’s 6th Bienal: The (S) Files, El Museo del Barrio, NY
Así Que se Vaya, MDE11, Medellín, Colombia
Me Asusta Pero Me Gusta: Arte Actual de Guatemala, Proyectos Diablo Rosso, Panama
Ciudad Como Escenario e Idea, Galería Kilometro Cero, Guatemala
2010
De Guatemala a Guatepeor, Proyectos Sauna, Bogotá, Colombia
Los Padres, la Distancia y el Speed, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala
Push/Pull, DUMBO Arts Festival, Brooklyn, NY
Duality, 92Y Tribeca, NY
2009
Los Desaparecidos/Horror Vacui, Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española, Antigua, Guatemala
Juannio, Benefit auction, Museo de Arte Moderno, Guatemala
Crema Fresca, Galería 9.99/proyecto, Guatemala
XVI Bienal de Paiz, Centro Cultural Metropolitano, Guatemala
XI Festival del Centro Histórico, Centro Cultural Metropolitano, Guatemala
2006
2da Muestra de Arte Emergente Centroamericano, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San Jose, Costa Rica
CURATORIAL
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Co-founder/co-director of the “Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporaneo-NuMu-en Guatemala”, Guatemala City and the US (2012-present)
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Panelist, The 2017 CPPC Travel Award for Central America and the Caribbean, The Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros & Independent Curators International, NY, USA (2017)
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Artist in residence, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, California, USA. In collaboration with Los Angeles County Museum of Arts (LACMA) (2015)
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Panelist, Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) Fellowships 2013, Bronx Council for the Arts, NY, USA (2013)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Home-So Different, So Appealing Exh. cat.
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“La historia de NuMu y Proyectos Ultravioleta, contada por sus fundadores.” Artishock, 25 January 2016.
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Fuentes, Elvis and Barreto, Meyken. Flow: Economies of the Look and Creativity in the Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Exh. cat. Washington: Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center.
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Miranda Zúñiga, Ricardo. “Crossfire: Artist Interviews”, El Museo del Barrio, December, 2015. Web.
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Fuentes Guaza, Luisa. Contemporary languages from Centro Ámerica. Salamanca: Imprenta Kadmos, 2013: 20-25. Print.
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De la Barra, P.L. “Welcome NuMu, A Museum in an Egg, Guatemala's Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporaneo.” Centre for the Aesthetic Revolution, 19 August 2012. Web.
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“Featured Artists.” New York Foundation for the Arts, 19 February 2012. Web.
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Cotter, H. “Artists Whose Vitality Flows From the Streets.” The New York Times [New York] 17 June 2011. pC25. Print.
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“Voices Choices.” The Village Voice, [New York] 13 June 2011. p21 and cover. Print.
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The S-Files/El Museo's Bienal Exh. cat. New York: El Museo del Barrio.
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Diazcasas, R. “The (S) Files.” Art Nexus Vol.10. Sept – Nov 2011: 156-157. Print.
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Cazali, R. "Blandos y casi ácidos." El Periódico [Guatemala City] 30 April 30 2008. Print. Juannio. Exh. Cat. Guatemala: Museo de Arte Moderno.
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XVI Bienal de Arte Paiz. Exh. cat. Guatemala: Centro Cultural Metropolitano.
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Los Desaparecidos/Horror Vacui. Exh. cat. Guatemala: Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Expañola.
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Escobar, D. “El amor, la obsesión: los objetos/Sobreviviendo a Duchamp.” Perspectivas Magazine No. 4/ Objetos de Diseño, Junio 2008. Print.