Gabriel Chaile
Gabriel Chaile (1985, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina) lives and works between Buenos Aires and Lisbon. He studied Fine Art at the National University of Tucumán. In 2009, he was awarded a scholarship by Fundación YPF, which led to his participation in the first edition of the Artists Program launched by University Torcuato Di Tella. In 2010, he was selected to participate at Lipac, an art program by Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas. He attended several artist residencies including the Callao Monumental, Peru; SENS and URRA; Buenos Aires. In 2022, he was awarded the Konex Award for Fire Art. He also received a mention for the Klemm Prize 2015 and was nominated for the 1st Itaú Cultural Award in 2010.
Gabriel Chaile works between the fields of anthropology, religion and art. His work is rooted in the indigenous cultures of Northeast Argentina, aiming to reconstruct and continue the lineage of his culture developing upon a theory that Chaile calls “the genealogy of form”. He refers to himself as a “communicator of images”, which he finds through contextual observations, acting as a visual anthropologist in the way indigenous forms and materials have survived time and denote resistance, such as the clay oven or the common pot. Working frequently with natural elements such as adobe, mud and metal, Chaile weaves stories that readdress and revitalize the tales of his ancestors and his community, integrating the ritualistic and communal significance of food and public spaces into his practice.
In 2022, he participated in The Milk of Dreams, the 59th Venice Biennale curated by Cecilia Alemani. His work has also been exhibited at the BIENNALE GHERDËINA ∞ PERSONES PERSONS, Ortisei; Bienal de Arte Contemporânea de Coimbra, Coimbra; 5th New Museum Triennial, New York; Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires (MAMBA); Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires; Centro Cultural San Pablo T, Tucumán; Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires; National Fund of Arts, Buenos Aires; Espacio Tucumán, Buenos Aires; Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires; New Energy Museum of Contemporary Art (the Ene), Buenos Aires; New Museum Triennal, New York and at Foundation Thalie, Brussels. In 2019, ChertLüdde presented the first solo exhibition of Gabriel Chaile in Europe, titled Esta canción ya tuvo aplausos.
In 2020, the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires (MAMBA) published the first catalogue of Gabriel Chaile, featuring the exhibition Patricia, along with other major projects produced by the artist in the last years.
Collections: Malba – Fundación Costantini, Buenos Aires; Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid; Kadist Foundation, Paris
Education
BA Fine Art at the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán
Grants and Awards
2022
Konex Award
2015
Mention, Klemm Prize
2014 – 2015
Production Grant, National Arts Fund
2014
Oxeford Travel Scholarship
2010
1st Itaú Cultural Award
2009
Foundation scholarship YPF, Artists Program UTDT
Residencies
2017
Residence Callao Monumental, Callao, Peru
2016
Residence SENS, Buenos Aires
2015
Residence URRA 2015, Buenos Aires
Solo Exhibitions
2024
Solo show, Barro, Buenos Aires
Solo show, Tabakalera, San Sebastian, Spain
Los Jóvenes Olvidaron sus Canciones, ChertLüdde, Berlin
2023
No se me quita lo naco, Meridiano, Puerto Escondido
MATRIX 283 / Gabriel Chaile: No hay nada que destruya el corazón como la pobreza, Curated by Margot Norton with Matthew Villar Miranda Matrix at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley
Gabriel Chaile, Galeria Fortes Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Carpintaria
USOS Y COSTUMBRES, Studio Voltaire, London
The wind blows where it wishes, High Line, New York
2022
Where are the Heirs of these Forms?, curated by Heidi Ballet, De Singel, Antwerpen
Migrantes são bem-vindos, Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon
2021
Me hablan de oscuridad pero yo estoy encandilado, Barro. New York, USA
2020
Me hablan de oscuridad pero yo estoy encandilado (They tell me of darkness but I am dazzled by the light), HENI Artists Agency, London
2019
Esta canción ya tuvo aplausos, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Genealogía de la forma, BARRO Arte Contemporáneo Buenos Aires
2018
ART-O-RAMA, booth with ChertLüdde, Marseille
Sonia, El ondulatorio, Jagüe, La Rioja
2017
Proto (a Gabriel Chaile movie), Ruby Gallery, Buenos Aires
Patricia, curated by Laura Hackel, Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires (MAMBA)
2016
My name is legion because we are many, Centro Cultural San Pablo T, Tucumán
2015
It’s not my fault if the river comes, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires
2014
Leave the furrow to till the earth (delusions of grandeur II) National Fund of Arts, Buenos Aires
2013
How the gold got dark! (train to know and consecrate) Chela, Buenos Aires
2012
I am who I am, Espacio Tucumán, Buenos Aires
All things were common, Alberto Sendros Gallery, Buenos Aires
2011
The principle of beauty is at the end of it, Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires
I never met you!, New Energy Museum of Contemporary Art (the Ene), Buenos Aires
2010
Daniel, performance performed in Tucumán / Buenos Aires, arteBA, Alberto Sendros Gallery, Tucumán / Buenos Aires
2009
Costume for a gentleman, curated by Josefina Carón, Ruins, Salta
2008
The trip, Contemporary Art Room, Tucumán National Road
Group Exhibitions
2024
Quize Anos De Amore Na República dos Pagolin, Curated by Filipa Ramos, Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon
La vida que explota. Gabriel Chaile, Claudia Alarcón and Silät, Curated by Andrei Fernández, Malba Foundation – Museum of Latin American Art from Buenos Aires
2023
My Demons My Angels, ChertLüdde, Berlin
BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts, Lisbon
Cooking as Performance, Temporary Gallery, Cologne
Resilient Currents: on Communal Re-Existence, curated by Ilaria Conti, FORMA, Paris
Remedios: Where new land might grow, curated by Daniela Zyman; C3A Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía, Córdoba
2022
To heal/Curar, curated by Gabriela Salgado, Hangar, Lisbon
The Milk of Dreams, 59th Venice Biennale, curated by Cecilia Alemani, Venice
Meia-Noite (Midnight), Anozero ’21-22 – Coimbra Biennial of Contemporary Art, curated by Elfi Turpin & Filipa Oliveira, Coimbra
Biennale Gherdëina, Persones Persons, curated by Lucia Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos, Piazza Sant’Antonio, Ortisei
Who tells a tale adds a tail, curated by Raphael Fonseca, Denver Art Museum, Denver
2021
The Sowers, curated by Anissa Touati and Nathalie Guoit, Fondation Thalie, Brussels
Soft Water Hard Stone, New Museum Triennal, curated by Margot Norton and Jamillah James, New Museum, New York
Pés de Barro, curated by Chús Martínez and Filipa Ramos, Galeria Municipal o Porto
Mutualismos, curated by Anna Burckhardt and Juliana Steiner, Plural Nodo Cultural, Bogotá
Trojan Taco, curated by Marisol Rodríguez, Espaciao Temporal, Pantin
So close I can see inside of you, ChertLüdde, Berlin
2019
The Last Supper, curated by Zoe Lukov, Faena Festival, Miami Beach
Bardo, Barro. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Memorias urgentes, curated by Leandro Martínez Depietri, BienalSur, Espacio de Arte Contemporáneo, Montevideo, Uruguay
La civilización perdida, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires
Mito, Espectáculo y Futuro. Galería de criaturas y personajes, curated by Julián Manzelli and Laura Spivak, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires
2018
Art Basel Cities, curated by Cecilia Alemani, Buenos Aires
2017
Horde, curated by Mercedes Viegas, Timoteo Navarro Provincial Museum of Fine Arts, Tucumán
arteBA17, Ruby Gallery, Buenos Aires
Consternations / constellations, curated by Sebastián Vidal Mackinson, Casa Fernandini, Lima, Peru
Tokyo no longer loves us, Tokio Gallery, Callao, Peru
2016
The buried mirror, curated by Alfons Hug, 3rd Biennial of Montevideo, Uruguay
Diagonal sur, curated by Philippe Cyroulnik, Borges Cultural Center, Buenos Aires
Sketch, sketch, project (volume II), curated by Santiago Bengolea, Javier Aparicio, Quimera del Arte Gallery, Buenos Aires
2015
Braque Award, Muntref, Buenos Aires
arteBA15, Zavaleta Lab, Buenos Aires
My Buenos Aires, curated by Paula Aizemberg, Albertine De Galbert, Maison Rouge, Paris, France
This is not what I thought when I was in my land, Young Art Biennial, CheLA, Buenos Aires
Do with the done, curated by Sebastian Vidal Mackinson, Federico Baeza, Museum of Modern Art of Cuenca, Ecuador
2014
Sovereignty of the use, appropriations of the everyday in the contemporary scene, curated by Sebastián Vidal Mackinson and Federico Baeza, Osde Foundation, Buenos Aires
General Principles, curated by Santiago Villanueva, Fine Thursday, the National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires
2013
Form and reason, along with the artist Andrea Fernandez, Unclub, Tucumán
2012
I am Guarango without glamor, Patricia Hakim, Casa de Culturas Chaco, Chaco
Between the return and the game, curated by Francisco Lemus, Macla, Museum of Contemporary Latin American Art, La Plata
Pantheon of the Heroes, curated by Isabel Plante and Sebastián Vidal Mackinson, Museum of Contemporary Art of Bahía Blanca, Bahía Blanca
2011
Pantheon of the Heroes, curated by Isabel Plante and Sebastián Vidal Mackinson, Osde Foundation, Buenos Aires
arteBA11, Alberto Sendros Gallery, Buenos Aires
2010
Oh my country!, curated by Jorge Figueroa, MUNT (Museum of the UNT), Tucumán
Stars and constellations, curated by Jorge Macchi and Pablo Accinelli, Torcuato Di Tella University, Buenos Aires
arteBA10, Alberto Sendros Gallery, Buenos Aires
Young and Ephemeral, Rosario, Santa Fe
Buenos Aires Photo 2010
2009
arteBA09, Barrio Joven Espacio La Punta, Buenos Aires.
Emergency, curated by Jerónimo Sáenz Landaburu, Virla Cultural Center, Tucumán
Circular project II, Palais de Glace, Buenos Aires
2008
Pop Scene II, curated by Jorge Figueroa, MUNT (Museum of the UNT), Tucumán
About the drawing, Timoteo Navarro Provincial Museum of Fine Arts, Tucumán
Fourth week of art in Rosario, Santa Fe
Selected Press and Publications
2024
“Gabriel Chaile’s “Los jóvenes olvidaron sus canciones o Tierra de Fuego”” by Filipa Ramos, e-flux, 10 July 2024, online.
“Missing Pieces: A Conversation with Gabriel Chaile” by Elizabeth Fullerton, SCULPTURE MAGAZINE, 1 March 2023, p. 14-25.
“PÉS DE BARRO (FEET OF CLAY)” edited by Chus Martinez & Filipa Ramos, Galleria Municipal do Porto & Ágora – Cultura e Desporto, 2024, Lenz, Milan. ISBN: 9789895398126
“5 Must-See Shows at Gallery Weekend Berlin 2024” by Chris Erik Thomas, ARTnews, April 2024, online
“Missing Pieces: A Conversation with Gabriel Chaile” by Elizabeth Fullerton, Sculpture Magazine, March 2024, online & print.
2023
“Latin American Artists: From 1785 to Now,” edited by Phaidon Editors with an introduction by Raphael Fonseca, Phaidon Press Limited, 2023, New York, US. ISBN: 9781838666606
“Gabriel Chaile’s works stand for timeless existences” by Agustina Battezzati, Whitehot Magazine, August 2023, online.
“Gabriel Chaile, Longing For Nature” by Jennz Wang, ART SPIEL, 8 August, online.
“For Gabriel Chaile, the way to the art is through the stomach” by Oliver Basciano, Apollo, UK, 24 July, online.
“Gabriel Chaile y una crítica al colonialismo a través de sus esculturas monumentales, en Londres” by Gabriela Albernaz, infobae, 23 July, online.
“The more you look, the odder it all gets’: Usos y Custombres – review” by Adrian Searle, The Guardian, UK, 18 July, online.
“Argentine Artist Gabriel Chaile Brings Catamarca’s Churches to Clapham” by Sofia Serbin de Skalon, Sounds and Colours, 16 July, 2023
“Cooking as an art performance: If I were a banana” by Sophie Jung, taz, 14 July, online.
“Gabriel Chaile: Art and life in a timeless time” by Manuel Quaranta, ARTISHOCK- Revista de arte contemporaneo, 6 August, online.
“die Kraft der Wärme” by Manuel Mayer, ART Das Kunstmagazin, 1 May, printed.
2022
“Sejamos utópicos: a arte de Gabriel Chaile mesmo para todos”, by Luisa Soares de Oliveira, special insert in Ipsilon, Lisbon, 15 July, pp 13-14
“The Five Best Shows to See in June” by Andrew Durbin, Frieze, 30 May, online.
“Siesta” by Andrei Fernandez on Terremoto, 16 May, online.“Gabriel Chaile: Made of Centuries” by Fernando Garcia, L’Officiel, 10 May.
“Gabriel Chaile’s Colossal Clay Sculptures are Alive with ancestral History” by Emi Eleode, Artsy, 5 May, online.
“Gabriel chaile invokes communalism with a family of clay ovens at venice art biennale” by Kat Barandy on Designboom, 24 April, onine.
“Sweet Dreaming: Kate Sutton at the 59th Venice Biennale”, ArtForum, 22 April, online.
“Active Listening: Gabriel Chaile” by Manuela Moscoso, Mousse Magazine, Issue 79, 29 March, pp. 208 – 221
“Gabriel Chaile está llevando su práctica a un nivel diferente” by Celina Chatruc, La Nación, 2 February, online
2021
Catalogue: “Gabriel Chaile Patricia” by Laura Hakel, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, 2021. ISBN: 978-987-1358-76-2
“New Museum Triennial: GABRIEL CHAILE” on TheGuide.Art, 12 November, online.
“New Museum Triennial Explores the Hidden Strengths of Soft Power” by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, 4 November, online.
2020
“Der schönste Ofen der Welt” by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Das Magazin, Berner Zeitung, Bern, 11 December, online.
Catalogue: “Chaile cria uma obra que se desdobra em processos de descolonização e resistência.” by Andrei Fernández, in “20 in 2020 LATIN AMERICA The Artists of the Next Decade”, Edited by Fernando Ticoulat and João Paulo Siquiera Lopes, Art Consulting Tool, 2020. ISBN: 978-65-88367-06-3.
2019
“Gabriel Chaile’s double match From La Boca to Art Basel” by Marina Oybin on ARTE ONLINE, 13 June, online.
“Art Basel Pursues Youth as It Turns 50” by Ted Loos on New York Times, 11 June, online.
“Argentine artists Gabriel Chaile sells communal pots intervened in Art Basel, the largest art fair in the world” by María Paula Zacharías on La Nación, June, online.
2018
“Ja, das Meer is blau, so blau” by Nicole Buesing and Heiko Klaas on kunstmarkt.com, 7 September, online.
“Ja, das Meer is blau, so blau” by Nicole Buesing and Heiko Klaas on DARE, 7 September, online.
“Review: ART-O-RAMA – Artworks seen in Marseille, ‘By the Sea’” by María Inés Plaza Lazo, on Reflektor M, 7 September, online.
“Sobre las formas de la pobreza: una fortaleza de ladrillos para custodiar un huevo de gallina” by María Paula Zacharías on La Nación, 24 July, online.
“Conversation with Gabriel Chaile about the process of making the installation “70 times 7”…”, Interview by Paula Carrella for Tres Pinos Foundation, June.
2017
Catalogue: Gabriel Chaile, published by Espacio Tucumán, 2017.
“Gabriel Chaile. La llama del pícaro espíritu de denuncia” by Daniel Gigena on La Nación, 2 April, online.