The work of Teresa Margolles (Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, 1963) explores the social causes and consequences of violence. The morgue, in her view, is an accurate reflection of society, particularly of the society in her homeland where deaths caused by crimes linked to drugs, poverty, political crises and the government’s counterproductive responses have devastated the community. She has developed a unique and sober language to lend her voice to individuals who have been silenced, to victims dismissed as collateral damage in conflicts. Margolles has a degree in Forensic Medicine and Communication Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico.
Her work has been shown internationally at such institutions as Es Baluard, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (2020); BPS22, Charleroi, Belgium (2019); Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (2019); MSSA, Santiago del Chile (2019); MAMBO Museum of Modern Art, Bogotà (2019); the Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea in Milan (2018); the Witte de With, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (2018); the Tenuta Dello Scompiglio and the Musée d'art contemporain in Montréal (2017); the Neuberger Museum of Art, New York (2015), the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid (2014), the Migros Museum, Zurich (2014), the Tate Modern, London (2012); the MALBA, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (2008); the Museo del Barrio, New York (2008); the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York (2007); the Kunsthalle, Vienna (2007); the Centre d'Art Contemporain in Brétigny, France (2006), the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany (2004); the PS1/MoMa, New York (2002); the Kunst-Werke in Berlin (2002) and thea South London Gallery (2002), among others.
She has taken part in Biennials such as the 22nd Sydney Biennial (2020), the Los Angeles Biennial (2016), the 7th Berlin Biennial (2012), the Moscow Biennial (2007), the 4th Liverpool Biennial (2006), the Prague Biennial (2005), the 4th Mercosul Biennial (2003) and the 7th Cuenca Biennial (2002). Her work entitled Di cos'altro potremmo parlare? [What else could we talk about?] was shown, in particular, at the 53rd Venice Biennial (2009), in the Mexican Pavilion, curated by Cuauhtémoc Medina. Teresa Margolles’s work was presented once again at the 58th Venice Biennial (2019), in the context of the International Exhibition entitled May You Live in Interesting Times curated by Ralph Rogoff, for which she received a Special Mention from the Jury in recognition of her work. Margolles has also been commissioned to dress the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2024.