Noé Martínez

Born 1986 | Morelia
Lives and works Mexico City

Working across painting, sculpture, video, and installation, Noé Martínez reveals the ongoing significance of the colonial history of his native Mexico and disappearing Indigenous cultures of the region. For the 14th Gwangju Biennale, Martínez presents an installation of eleven ceramic sculptures accompanied by a hanging sculpture in the middle, entitled Bunch 3 (Racimo 3) 2022. The sculptures draw from the history of the artist’s Huastec ancestors who were trafficked by Europeans in the 16th century, each metaphorising the bodies that were transformed into objects of commerce without their consent. In accordance with the Huastec understanding that ancestors manifest by sounds, the artist performed a ritual with his own voice and percussions to invoke the ancestors to the Gwangju and cure their traumas.

Noé Martínez, Installation view, 14th Gwangju Biennale (2023). Image courtesy Gwangju Biennale Foundation. Photo: glimworkers