ALBERTO ORTEGA-TREJO
Artist, researcher and architectural designer.
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His work uses architecture,
drawing, sculpture, writing and video to explore histories of indigeneity in architectural
modernity, the production of extreme environments, the spatial politics of the colonial encounters in North America and the architectures of social experiments. He has been
an IDEAS Fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians and a grantee of Jumex
Foundation for Contemporary Art, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and DCASE,
among others. His work has been shown at Prairie, DePaul Art Museum, BienalSur, Ca’ Foscari
Zattere, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Uri-Eichen Gallery, SpaceP11, and Centro de Arte y Filosofía. He has been a guest speaker for institutions and
organizations like DocTalks x MoMA for the Emilio Ambasz Institute, the American Institute
of Architects, the Society of Architectural Historians, Smart Museum of Art, Committee on Environment Geography and Urbanization, Materia
Abierta, UPenn, MAS Context and CENTRO.
He is a lecturer of Architecture History and Studio at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Program Manager of the Katz Center for Mexican Studies at the University of Chicago and an Independent Spatial Designer. In the Fall of 2026, Ortega-Trejo begins doctoral studies at Princeton University School of Architecture.
On view:
La Draga, Galería A4, México. Until May 16.
UPCOMING:
The Silent Claims of the Demon of Art - Watershed Art&Ecology. Opening on May 16, 2026. Chicago.
ARTIFICIAL-AGENCY
Architectural Consultancy
Exhibition Strategy
Research and Publication
Previous clients and collaborators include, North East Asia Art Archive, Art Institute of Chicago, Singapore Art Museum, Edith Farnsworth House, Goethe-Institut Chicago, Michael Rakowitz Studio, Black Athena Collective, Dawit L. Petros, and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at The University of Chicago.
Keep scrolling for selected projects ↆ
From Outer Space to Public Space
On alienation and public space
Public Performance and Videoinstallation
From Outer Space to Public Space is an experimental panel for a discussion on racism, alienation, the future of the city and the legacies of Afrofuturism to re-think public space-time occupation. It took place inside Chicago’s CTA Red Line, an axis that makes evident racial segregation and infrastructural disparities.
Thanks to Ann Lui, Shiben Banerji, Ytasha Womack, Delinda Collier and Rohan Ayinde.
Filming crew: Julia Lopes and
Kexin Li
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Thanks to Ann Lui, Shiben Banerji, Ytasha Womack, Delinda Collier and Rohan Ayinde.
Filming crew: Julia Lopes and
Kexin Li
