Sol Calero

Sol Calero (b. 1982, Caracas, Venezuela) lives and works in Berlin. 

In her work, Calero creates site-specific installations that work as spaces for gathering. She often uses opulent three-dimensional tableaus and has staged situations as far ranging as a school to a spa and a currency exchange office. Calero’s works are at once vibrant, bright, and playful, while also examining the political overtones of themes such as cultural representation, national identity, exoticism and marginalization. Her Venezuelan background has influenced an interest in looking at cultural codes or clichés from the Latin American context that proliferate and change, as well as the way in which visual symbols can undergo transformation.

Her recent solo exhibition include: Bergen Assembly, Norway (2022); 1646, The Hague (2022); Crèvecoeur, Paris (2021); Copenhagen Contemporary (2020); Villa Arson, Nice, France (2020); Tate, Liverpool, UK (2019) and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2019). Recent group exhibitions: Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki (2022); Bergen Kunsthall (2021); Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany (2020) and La Casa Encendida, Madrid (2019). 

Calero was nominated for the Preis der Nationalgalerie in 2017, which included an exhibition at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, Berlin. She also co-runs a project space in Berlin with Christopher Kline called Kinderhook & Caracas.

She is part of the following collections: Collection Lafayette Anticipations – Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin, Paris; Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Germany; CA2M Collection, Madrid, Spain; Musée des Abattoirs/FRAC Occitanie, Toulouse; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; CNAP – Centre National des Arts Plastiques, France; Museo Madre, Napoli; Hiscox Collection, London; Fondazione Cassa Di Risparmio Di Cuneo, Italy.

Residency:
Villa Arson, Nice 2019

Solo Exhibitions:

2023
Casa Encontrada, Galleria Francesca Minini, Milan
Las seis ventanas, Stavanger Museum, Stavanger

2022
Los vestigios de La Turista, 1646 Experimental Art Space, The Hague

2021
La carta, por favor, Crèvecoeur, Paris
ISLA, BAW Garden, on the occasion of Berlin Art Week, KINDL Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin
La Ventana, Public Commission for Deutsche Bahn, curated by Ruth Ur andorganized with Villeroy & Boch, as part of Ausgang Friedrichstraße, Bahnhof Friedrichstraße, Berlin

2020
El barco de barro (The Clay Ship), curated by Jannie Haagemann, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen
Se empeñaban en tapar las grietas, pero las paredes seguían sudando, curated by Eric Mangion, Villa Arson, Nice

2019
Pasaje del olvido, Barbara Gross Galerie, Munich
ISLA, curated by Carla Donauer, Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerpen
El Autobus, Tate Liverpool
Archivos olvidados, ChertLüdde, Berlin
ARCO, Madrid with Barbara Gross Galerie

2018
Pica Pica, Düsseldorf Kunstverein, Düsseldorf
Solo Pintura, Barbara Gross Galerie, Munich
Casa Isadora, Brücke Museum, Berlin
Tente en el aire, Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lissabon
Sensory Spaces 15, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Milagritos y Frutas, Galerie Crèvecoeur, Paris
La puerta, ACCA Melbourne, Melbourne

2017
Agencia Viajes Paraíso, Kunstpalais Erlangen, Erlangen
Interiores, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund

2016
La Sauna Caliente, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria
Solo Pintura, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London
Casa de Cambio, Art Basel Statements, Basel
Desde el Jardín, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow

2015
La Escuela del Sur, Studio Voltaire, London
El Buen Vecino, SALTS, Basel
Oficina del Ciudadano, solo exhibition, Galerie Wedding, Berlin
Caracas 2015, Sala Mendoza, Caracas

2014
Salsa, Gillmeier Rech Gallery, Berlin
Caribbean Style, Museo Apparente, Naples
Cyber Café, Frieze, London
Bienvenidos A Nuevo Estilo, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London

2013
La Caraqueña, Frutta Gallery, Hadrian, Rome
Modern Dowry (with Christopher Kline), Toves, Copenhagen
La Perla del Caribe, The Taut And Tame, Lüttgenmeijer, Berlin

2012
Regalos Ancestrales I, II (with Christopher Kline), TEA, Tenerife

2011
Field Studies (with Christopher Kline) curated by Lorenzo Sandoval, Altes Finanzamt, Berlin
Snakebraid performance, El Apartamento, Santa Cruz de Tenerife

2010
Snakebraid Performance, Center of Contemporary Art of Torun, Poland
Regalos Ancestrales (with Christopher Kline), Mark & Kyoko, Berlin

Group Exhibitions:

2023
Suzu Oku-Noto Triennale, Japan (upcoming September)
MONOTYPES: Edition VFO, Curated by David Khalat and Valérie Hashimoto, Kunsthalle Zürich, Zürich (upcoming September)
My Demons My Angels, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Vielheit: Stories from the postmigrant society, curated by Jörn Schafaff, Kunst Meran, Meran
La abstracción es la figuración, curated by Ricardo Báez GBG ARTS, Caracas

2022
Bergen Assembly 2022: Yasmine and the Seven Faces of the Heptahedron, Curated by Yasmine d’O, Bergen, Norway
ARS22, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
Nunca Lo Mismo (Never the Same), curated by Mariano Mayer and Manuela Moscoso, ARCOmadrid, Madrid

2021
Group Exhibition, 2. Amtsalon Gallery Pop-Up, Berlin
Quinceñera 15 years of DiabloRosso, curated by Pablo León de la Barra, Panama
Painting in Person:The new Collection of Fondazione CRC, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Marcella Beccaria, Complesso Monumentale di San Francesco, Cuneo
The Sowers, curated by Anissa Touati and Nathalie Guoit, Fondation Thalie, Brussels
The Ocean, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen
Group Exhibition, Paris Internationale, Paris
Indice Ultraviolet: Décalage vers le rouge, co-curated by Colin Raynal, Centre d´art Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel

2020
RAUPENIMMERSATTISM. THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY AS CONSUMED SOCIETY OR THE MYTH OF ENDLESS PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin
Die Absurde Schönheit des Raumes, curated by Alexander Klar und Jan Steinke, Hamburger Kunsthalle
FEATURES, zehn sichten auf Berlin, Nikolaikirche, Stadtmuseum Berlin
L’Amazonie dans la collection Petitgas, curated by Anna Kerekes, MO.CO. Hôtel des collections, Montpellier

2019
Expanded Painting, Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia
A Shiver in Search of a Spine, Arario Gallery, Samcheong, Korea
El hecho alegre. Una mecánica popular de los sentidos, La Casa Encendida, Madrid
La vie moderne, Nouveau parcours dans les collections, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris

2018
Papier. Salon. Wentrup, Berlin
A Sweet Taste of Conspiracy, Screenings program, FUEGO, Mexico City

2017
Amazonas Shopping Center, Preis der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum for Gegenwart, Berlin
HO HO HO, Frutta Gallery, Rome
Casa Anacaona, Folkestone Triennial, Folkestone, UK
What’s Up – The Americas, LVH Art, London
First Day of Good Weather, organised by Despacio (Costa Rica), Sies & Höke, Düsseldorf
Future Generation Art Prize, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev, Ukraine, and Venice, Italy

2016
London is Open: Art for Everyone, Art On The Underground, London
Curated by a Tree, 1857, Oslo
Tropical Punch, Galerie Nathalie Halgand, Vienna
Closer to the veg, Fitzroy Park Allotments, London
Je Ne Sais What?, Carnelutti Law Firm, Milan

2015
Salon of Hybrid Things, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Women’s Art Society II, curated by Adam Carr, Mostyn, Llandudno
You Will Find Me If You Want Me In The Garden, Galerie Chez Valentin, Paris
Oh, Of Course, You Were Berry Picking, DREI Gallery, Köln
Office for Paradoxical Relations, space design, NGKB, Berlin

2014
Small Rome, Frutta Gallery, Rome
Borders, curated by Adam Carr, Artuner, Online show
Accordion, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London

2013
Women’s Art Society, curated by Adam Carr, Mostyn, Llandudno
The Phylogenesis of Generosity, Prizessinnengarten Outdoor Sculpture Triennial, Berlin
Von flussigen Stammbaumen im Geroll der Vernetzung: ein Familienporträt, Espace Beaumont, Luxembourg
Performing and costume for Michele Di Menna – Ooze Generator, 12. Triennale Klein plastik, Fellbach
Item Perspectiva, Krome Gallery, Berlin
Come, All Ye Faithfull, curated by Carson Chan, Florian Christopher, Zurich’

2012
Case Report, Nogueras Blanchard, Barcelona
The Rescue of the Effects, curated by Lorenzo Sandoval, General Public, Berlin

2010
Feather Throat, Grimmuseum

Curatorial Projects:

2022
Cabilla, TEA, Tenerife, Spain-A project by Sol Calero with the participation of ArchivOlares, Ana Alenso, Rubén D’Hers, Ernesto Paredano, tropical papers, Lucía Pizzani, Armando Rosales, Christian Vinck
Parallaxie, Kunstverein & Stiftung Springhornhof, Neuenkirchen-A collective exhibition project curated by Kreuzberg Pavillon, Kinderhook & Caracas and The Mycological Twist

2021
Desde el Salón (From the Living Room)-Sol Calero selects from the Hiscox Collection, Whitechapel Gallery, London 

2016
Oedipusmas Special, 1646, Den Hague

2015
Che Che Cole, 63rd-77th STEPS, Bari, Online

2014
Desktop Residency, Online

Bibliography – Selected Articles:

2022
‘Bergen Assembly Art Triennial: Come with me to my free world’ by Daniel Völzke, Monopol, September 2022, Online
‘Bergen Assembly has refurbished the elderly center’s canteen as an art project’ by Aspen Hauglid, Morgenbladet, 16 September 2022, Online
‘Stranger Than Fiction: Agnieszka Gratza at LIAF and the 2022 Bergen Assembly’ by Agnieszka Gratza, ArtForum, September, Online.
‘Artist Sol Calero gives a Norwegian canteen a colourful, tongue-in-cheek makeover’ by Hili Perlson, Wallpaper Magazine, Online.
‘The professor, the tourist and the moped rider’ by Kåre Bulie, Klassekampen, Online.
‘She turns a Bergen nursing home cafe into an art installation’ by Alisa Larsen, Dagens Næringsliv, Online.

2020
‘Rhythmic Repetition and Hybridized Memories: Sol Calero and Zora Mann at Villa Arson, Nice’ by Giovanni Manzotti, Mousse Magazine, Online.
‘Sol Calero, Zora Mann and Shailesh BR at Villa Arson’, studio international, Online.

2019
‘2019 in Art – Small and smart Two highlights’ by Anna Larkin, Exberliner.
‘Im Garten der Chiffren’ by Kito Nedo, art 9/2019, pp. 66–74.
‘Sol Calero’s ‘Archivos Olvidaros’ by Sofia Lemos, on ArtAgenda, Online.

2018
‘Les Fruits Syncrétique de Sol Calero’, by Anael Pigeat, The Art News Paper, p.20.
‘Sol Calero’s “Tente en el aire”’ , by Angels Miralda Tena.
‘Sol Calero for Sensory Spaces 15’, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Newsroom, Online.
‘Welcome! A Conversation with Sol Calero about Tropical Hospitality, Latin American Legacy, and the Potential of the Exotic’, a conversation between Sol Calero, Emanuele Guidi, and Lorenzo Sandoval, Spaces of Anticipation, Issue 36.

2017
‘Sol Caleros Bilderräume, Dekonstruktion des Exotischen’, Agnes Sawer, Kunsttexte, Nr.2, Online.
‘Sol Calero: It’s important that the aesthetics don’t eat the concept’, by Anna McNay, Studio International, Online.
‘Pavilion Casa Anaconda’, Domus Magazine, Online.
‘Sol Calero at Dortmunder Kunstverein, by Moritz Scheper, Frieze, Online.
‘Sol Calero Tropical Punch’ by Samuel Leuenberger, Keen On Magazine, Online.

2016
‘An Artist’s New Look’, by Aimee Farrell, New York Times Style Magazine, Online.
‘Richly-Hued Tropicalia’, by Thomas Skye, Artnet News, Online.
‘Amuse’, by Francesco Dama, Solo Pintura.
‘Ka-Ching! Sol Calero erects a Venezuelan currency exchange booth in Basel’s Statements section’, by Nate Freeman, ArtNews, Online.
‘The 20 Best Booths at Art Basel’, by Marina Cashdan and Molly Gottschalk, Artsy, Online.
‘Sol Calero’, by George Vasey, Kaleidoscope, Issue 27.
‘Sol Calero in conversation with Elise Lammer’, Interview by Elise Lammer, Terremoto, Issue 5.
‘Anatomy of an Artwork: Desde El Jardin’, by Oliver Basciano, The Guardian, Online.

2015
‘Sol Calero turns Studio Voltaire into a Kitsch-ified Caribbean Classroom’, by Alexander Forbes, Artsy, Online.
‘Sol Calero’, Interview by Molly Gottschalk, Artsy, Online.

2014
‘Sol Calero: Political Fruit’, by Harry Laughland, Artuner, Online.
‘An Interview with Sol Calero’, Interview by Adam Carr, Artuner, Online.
‘My Frist Time at Frieze’, by Sophie Heawood, The Guardian, Online.

2012
‘Sol Calero’s Neo-Folk Sculpture and Installation’, by Aaron Berger, Beautiful/Decay, Online.

Catalogues – Publications:

2023
‘Monograph’ (forthcoming)
‘Latin American Artists: From 1785 to Now’, ed Phaidon Editors, with an introduction by Raphael Fonseca, Phaidon, 2023. ISBN 9781838666606
‘Arte contemporánero de Venezuela Vol. 2 / Contemporary Art of Venezuela Vol. 2’, ed by Villanueva Editores 2023. ISBN 978-2-9577456-0-9

2022
‘The Heptahedron. Complete Series of Side Magazine, Yasmine d’O., Saâdane Afif (eds.)’, ed by Wirklichkeit Books, 2022. ISBN 978-3-948200-16-9
‘ARS22 Living Encounters’, ed. by Mousse Publishing, 2022. ISBN 978-88-67749-496-5

2020
‘Mecarõ – Amazonia in the Petitgas Collection,’ ed. by Anna Kerekes, Jacqueline Kok, Silvana Editoriale, Milan, 2020. ISBN: 9788836644360
‘Fifty Years of Art. The Hiscox Collection 1970 – 2020’, ed. by Whitechapel Gallery, 2020. ISBN 978-0-85488-287-8

2019
‘Pow Up. Post-Otherness-Wedding’, ed by Kerber Verlag, 2019. ISBN 978-3-7356-0579-5
‘El hecho alegre. Una mecánica popular de los sentidos’, ed. by La Casa Encendida, 2019. ISBN: 978-84-09-14336-8 Bienvenidos a Nuevo Estilo, 2014

2018
‘The Theater is Lying. The inaugural Macfarlane, Commisions’, ed by ACCA, 2018. ISBN 978-0-6484353-1-0
‘Sensory Spaces’, ed. by Art Libro / Coers & Roest, 2018. ISBN 978-90-6918-308-4

2017
‘Sol Calero. Agencia Viajes Paraiso’, ed. by Amely Deiss and Milena Mercer, Kunstpalais, Stadt Erlangen.

2015
‘Works from the Agovino Collection’, ed. by Dio c’é, Cura Publishing.