ALBERTO ORTEGA-TREJO

Mexican artist, researcher and architectural designer.



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, 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.


CURRENTLY: One of the qualities of nocturnal beings is that they speak words of truth. Aug 17 - Oct 5 Prairie, Chicago. Solo exhibition



ARTIFICIAL-AGENCY 


Architectural Consultancy
Exhibition Strategy
Research and Publication


Previous clients and collaborators include, 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 Studies at The University of Chicago.

Get in touch by clicking here:       ✉


Keep scrolling for selected projects ↆ

manifesTEA
A platform for random encounters
An installation about other speeds and rythms for protest and dialogue

What kind of conversations are triggered around a warm and free cup of tea? A product troubling by its colonial traces. manifesTEA was a temporary installation at the Chicago Design Museum that questions interactions and typologies. (The Chicago Design Museum is located at Block37, a commercial space directly connected with the CTA trains in the lower level of the building) A free cup of tea is offered in this money-speed driven space. The visitors are asked nothing but its suggested that they leave a message along with their tea-bag as a memory of their presence and to share what kind of struggles concern them.


in collaboration with: Martha Poggioli, Sonia Cheng, Thomas Kong, Ellie Tse, Rachel Wang, Celine Setiadi and Sampson Wong.