Artists

TOMÁS SARACENO

Saraceno’s work unfolds at the intersection between art, architecture, science, technology, and activism. He attempts to contribute knowledge and collective experiences that help us grapple with some of the most urgent issues facing the present. His projects call attention to the need to innovate how we live and to explore alternative and sustainable forms of transportation, communication, and habitability.

Some of his work ensues well outside the art circuit, that is, in the air or in natural settings like deserts or salt mines, and in dialogue with local communities. Often at stake in his exhibitions are radical proposals that modify the traditional uses of the museum or gallery space, involving the audience in challenging bodily experiences that sometimes call for cooperation. Some of his works engage phenomena outside the range of the visible—vibrations that occur between bodies and materials, for instance—or nonhuman inhabitants of the place in question—spiders, for instance—as participants and recipients. In that sense, in each project the artist weaves together an organic system of relationships between audience and setting to open up communication channels and sociability that cross the borders between senses and species.

Saraceno is an observer of the planet. He finds formal and aesthetic connections between phenomena as disparate as the rhythms of air currents and the ecosystemic networks that make up the atmosphere and the biosphere. He brings those phenomena into his production as sculpture, installation, and photography. Often in conjunction with scientific institutions, he works with an enormous team of collaborators and specialists on research that combines different realms of knowledge. At the juncture between the utopian and the possible, Saraceno’s artistic practice expands the limits of contemporary art to open up new horizons. His interests at the intersection of the microscopic and the cosmic encompass interlinked areas of study and action to design and propel projects of social and environmental transformation.

Selected Works

TBD /M+M (Cluster I)
2020 Powder coated stainless steel, mirror panels, steel wire, metal wire. 30 x 50 x 30 cm (Available)
Cumulus fractus/M+M
2020 Powder-coated stainless steel, monofilament fishing line, mirror. 57 x 105 x 56 cm (Available)
RR Cae (AB) b/M+M
2019 Stainless steel, polyester rope, monofilament fishing line, metal wire, mirror panels. 56 x 70 x 51 cm (Available)
Heliacal Rising 94.5
2019 Polyester yarn, velvet yarn, fishing line, blown glass. 242 x 60 x 60 cm (Available)
Semi-social mapping of 3C 241 by a solo Cyrtophora citricola - one week
2017 Spider web, archival paper, fixative, ink. 34 x 24 cm (Available)
Biosphere/17
2017 Polyester rope, fishing line. Edition of 3 400 x 400 cm (Available)
Biosphere 05/17
2017 Polyester rope, fishing line. Edition of 3 300 x 300 cm (Available)
Zonal Harmonic 1N 90/8
2017 Metal, polyester rope, fishing line, steel thread 92 x 110 cm (Available)
Gravitational solitary semi-social Choreography Zavijava built by: a solo Araneidae - one week, a duet of Cyrtophora citricola - three weeks, rotated 90°
2017 Spider web, carbon fiber, glass, metal. 29 x 20 x 20 cm (Available)
Hybrid semi-social semi-social Cluster BD+23 507 built by: a solo Cyrtophora citricola - one week, a solo Cyrtophora citricola - one week, rotated 90°
2017 Spider web, carbon fiber, glass, metal 29 x 20 x 20 cm (Available)
Semi-social mapping of DDO 221 by a solo Cyrtophora citricola - three weeks
2016 Spider web, archival paper, fixative, ink, ink 39 x 19 cm (Available)

TOMÁS SARACENO CV

Born in 1973 in Tucumán, Argentina.

He studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires and received postgraduate degrees from the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Ernesto de la Cárcova, Buenos Aires (2000) and the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste -Städelschule-Frankfurt am Main (2003). In 2009, he attended the International Space Studies Program at the NASA Ames Center in Silicon Valley CA, and that same year received the prestigious Calder Award.

Among his numerous exhibitions since the late 1990s, Saraceno’s solo presentations include: Cisternerne, Copenhagen (2020); Palazzo Strozzi, Florence (2020); MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon (2018); Fosun Foundation, Shanghai (2018); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2018); Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore (2017); Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires (2017); SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (2016); Solutions COP21, Grand Palais, Paris (2015); 21er Haus, Vienna (2015); Cheorwon Peace Observatory, DMZ Cheorwon-gun (2014); K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Ständehaus, Düsseldorf (2013); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2012); Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2012); Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (2011); Kemper Art Museum at Washington University, St. Louis (2011); MACRO Museum of Modern Art, Berlin (2011). Louis (2011); MACRO Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome (2011); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2009); Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (2009); Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (2009); Barbican Art Centre, London (2006). Tomás Saraceno has participated in numerous festivals and biennials, such as the Aerocene Foundation for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale Architettura (2020); the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2019), and the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2009).

Lives and works in Berlin

Individual exhibitions

2023

Serpentine Galleries, London (forthcoming) Tomás Saraceno: Entangled Air., Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University, Milwaukee

2022

Oceans of Air, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Australia
Silent Autumn, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Tomás Saraceno: Particular Matter(s), The Shed, New York
Domaine des Etangs, Massignac, France (permanent installation)
Cloud cities Barcelona, Mirador Torre Glòries, Barcelona, Spain (permanent installation)

2021

AnarcoArcanoAnacroArcano, Neapolis Archaeological Park, Siracusa, Italy Du sol au soleil, Domaine des Etangs, Massignac, France
Cloud Constellation Omega Centauri 3.9, Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund, Denmark (permanent installation)
Movement [49.244811, 4.053926], Ruinart, Reims, France (permanent installation)
Inter + Play: Tomás Saraceno, Towada Art Center, Towada, Japan
Spatial Echoes of Breath, State of California California
Air Resource Board (CARB), Sacramento, CA

2020

Songs for the air, Hessischen Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
ARIA, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
Tomás Saraceno:Event Horizon, Cisternerne, Copenhagen
Moving Atmospheres, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow
Stayin’ Alive, ANOTHER SPACE, New York

2019

Tomás Saraceno, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Los Angeles
Tomás Saraceno, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, South Korea
Algo-r(h)i(y)thms, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Cosmic filaments, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, MO Copenhagen, Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund, Denmark Massignac Domain des Etangs, France
Sundial for Spatial Echoes, Bauhaus-Museum, Weimar, Germany (permanent installation)
Aerocene at Karlskirche, Karlskirche Contemporary Art, Vienna
More than Humans, curated by Stefanie Hessler, Museo Nacional ThyssenBornemisza, Madrid (two-person show)
Weaving the Cosmos, Planetarium, Milan

2018

ON AIR, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Aerocene at Karlskirche, Karlskirche Contemporary Art, Vienna (ongoing) Saint Charles Church, Vienna Solar Rhythms, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Entanglements, After The Butcher, Berlin (two person show)
Tomás Saraceno: Aerographies The Utopian Practitioner and Visionary, Fosun Foundation Shanghai, Shanghai
Museum für Bildende Künste, Leipzig, Germany
Tomás Saraceno: Thermodynamic Imaginaries, Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon
Space Moving Light, Royal Caribbean Cruise Terminal, commissioned by Miami Dade County, Miami

2017

Our Interplanetary Bodies, ACC – Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea Tomás Saraceno: Entangled Orbits, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD Many suns and worlds, Vanhaerents art collection, Brussels
Aerosolar Journeys, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich
Tomás Saraceno: How to Entangle the Universe in a Spider Web, Museo de Arte Moderno Buenos Aires, Argentina
Aerocene, Aerocene Project, Néstor Kirchner Cultural Centre, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Mappletree, Public commission, Singapore
HAT-P-12, Public commission, Taipei, Taiwan
Gravitational Waves, Z33, Genk, Belgium (permanent installation)
Stillness in Motion – 3 Airborne Self-Assemblies, Mapletree, Singapore (permanent installation)
Cloud Cities – Nebulous Thresholds, Rollins College, FL (permanent installation)
On Cosmic Clouds, NYU Abu Dhabi Library, UAE (permanent installation)
Horizonte de eventos, Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2016

Stillness in Motion — Cloud Cities, curated by Joseph Becker, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Tomás Saraceno, Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Rome Many suns and worlds, Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels
163,000 Light Years, MARCO, Museum for Contemporary Art, Monterrey, Mexico Solar Bell Ensemble, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnatti,OH
Aerocene, Esther Schipper, Berlin Z33 Kunstencentrum, public project, Hasselt, Belgium
Tomás Saraceno: Tuning Gravity’s Strings, curated by Peter Weibel, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany
Dark Cosmic Web, Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Rome
Cloud City installation, Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Campbell Art Park, Oklahoma City, OK
Cloud Cities: HAT-P-12, Taipei, Taiwan (permanent installation)
Caelum Dust, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

2015

Aerocene, Espace Muraille, Geneva, Switzerland
Aerocene, Solutions COP21, Grand Palais, Paris
Climate Change Conference COP21 Arachnid Orchestra. Jam Sessions, curated by Ute Meta Bauer and Anca Rujoiu, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Hybrid Solitary… Semi-social Quintet… On Cosmic Webs…, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Tomás Saraceno, Palais de Tokyo, Paris 14 Billions (Working Title), curated vy Else-Brit Kroneberg, SKMU Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Kristiansand, Norway Becoming Aerosolar, curated by Mario Codognato, Haus21er, Belvedere, Vienna
Cloud Cities/Air-Port-City, Domaine du Muy, Parc de sculptures contemporaines, France Sundial for Spatial Echoes, Aker Brygge, Oslo

2014

Tomás Saraceno: in orbit, K21 STÄNDEHAUS, Kunstammlung NordrheinWestfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
Cosmic Jive, Tomás Saraceno: The Spider Sessions, curated by Luca Cerizza and Ilaria Bonacossa, Villa Croce, Genoa, Italy
Tomás Saraceno, HfG Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
Iridescent Planet, Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa, Italy

2013

In Orbit, curated by Marion Ackermann and Susanne Meyer-Büser, K21 Ständehaus, Düsseldorf, Germany
Social… Quasi social… Solitary… Spiders… On hybrid cosmic webs, Esther Schipper Gallery, Berlin
Tomás Saraceno, Andersen’s Contemporary, Copenhagen

2012

On Space Time Foam, curated by Andrea Lissoni, HangarBicocca, Milan, Italy
Cloud City, Roof Garden Installation, curated by Anne Strauss, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Cloud Cities, Maison Hermès, Tokyo
Tomás Saraceno on the Roof: Cloud City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Air-Port-City / Cloud Cities, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Tomás Saraceno, Taidehalli Kunsthalle Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

2011

Cloud Specific, Curated by Meredith Malone, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO
Cloud Cities, curated by Britta Schmitz, Hamburger Bahnhof-Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin
Cloudy Dunes, When Friedman meets Bucky on Air-Port-City, MACRO, Mudeo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome
Labor, K20 Grabbeplatz, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany

2010

Sculpture Project ROSSMARKT3, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
14 Billions (working title), Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm
Tomás Saraceno, Baltic Centre for contemporary Art, Gateshead, England Tomás Saraceno: from Camogli to San Felipe, spiders weaving stars, curated by Francesca Pasini, Fondazione Pier Luigi e Natalina Remotti, Camogli, Italy Andersen’s Contemporary, Copenhagen
Tomás Saraceno: Cloud Cities, Atelier Calder, Saché, France
Cloud Cities, Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa, Italy
Cloud Cities Connectome, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York

2009

Tomás Saraceno: Lighter than Air, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; traveling to Blaffer Gallery, The Art Museum of the University of Houston, TX Biosphere, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (in the framework of the cycle «RETHINK Relations»)
Tomás Saraceno, MUDAM Musée d‘Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (in the framework of the cycle «Habiter») Cloudy House, Andersen’s Contemporary, Berlin
Tomás Saraceno, Andersen’s Contemporary, Copenhagen

2008

Artists-in-Residence: Tomás Saraceno, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN Galaxies forming along filaments, like droplets along the strands of a spider webs, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Tomás Saraceno: On Clouds (Air-port-city), Towada Art Center, Towada, Japan (permanent installation)
Tomás Saraceno: We have a Dream (two-person exhibition with Marjetica Potrc), Spazio Gerra, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Cloudy Dunes, Fondazione Garrone, Genoa, Italy
On Clouds (Air-Port-City), Towada Arts Center, Towada, Japan

2007

Biosphere MW32 Air-Port-City, Pinksummer, Genoa, Italy
Tomás Saraceno: Microscale, Macroscale and Beyond: Large-Scale Implications of Small-Scale Experiments/ Matrix 224, Berkeley Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley, CA
Opening, AEREA, Christian Larsen, Stockholm Unlimited, Art Basel 38, Basel Tomás Saraceno: Air-Port-City, De Vleeshal, The Netherlands
Tomás Saraceno: Flying Garden, EPO Munich (permanent installation) Flying Garden, EPO Munich

2006

Tomás Saraceno, Centre d’Art Santa Monica, Barcelona
Air-Port-City, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Cumulus, Barbican Art Centre, London
Tomás Saraceno: Personal States/Infinite Actives, with Marjetica Potrc, Portikus, Frankfurt, Germany

2004

On-Air, Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa, Italy

2003

Tomás Saraceno: in-migration, Universität Kaiserslautern, Germany

2000 Tomás Saraceno: 612 Planetas, Parque Planetario, Buenos Aires, Argentina

1998

Tomás Saraceno: Luces de estrellas, Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Ernesto de la Carcova, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Press

TELAM. Fly with Aerocene Pacha. Connect, BTS-Buenos Aires
NYTIMES. With Spiders and Space Dust, Tomás Saraceno Takes Off. Por Kimberly Bradley