Carlos Amorales

Exploring questions of concealment and identity, the artist Carlos Amorales works in a variety of media—from paintings and drawings to animations and performances—to explore the cultural heritage of his native Mexico. In one of his earliest performance pieces, Amorales vs. Amorales (1999), lucha libre wrestlers grapple in a ring, masks concealing their identities, as the artist directs the brutal struggle. Fascinated by horror and fantasy, Amorales also creates worlds populated with ambiguous figures, uncertain morals, and ghostly silhouettes. In Four Animations, Five Drawings, and a Plague (2008), bizarre and macabre renderings of animals and human figures are placed beside digital animations of apocalyptic landscapes, distorting reality and creating an atmosphere of unease.

Since 1998, Carlos Amorales has been building the Liquid Archive , a digital database of his drawings, which he has used to produce works in collaboration with other artists across a range of media. Recording his characteristic silhouettes—always in black, grey, and red—of wildlife and human figures, the database unites Amorales' works by documenting the common motifs found across his oeuvre. In 2007, in cooperation with Dutch graphic designers Mevis & Van Deursen, Amorales published Carlos Amorales: Liquid Archive, Why Fear the Future? , which demonstrated the database's accessibility and cooperative nature. His artworks have been exhibited internationally, including at the 50th Venice Biennale, Tate Modern, the Pompidou Center, and the Museum of Modern Art.