Teresa Margolles

Mexican conceptual artist, photographer and video artist. A forensic scientist by profession, her work stands out for its exploration of the social causes and consequences of death. Some of the topics she has dealt with throughout her career are pain, violence, women's abuse or social inequality. Among her works are Tumba portátil (Portable Tomb) and Vaporización (Vaporization). In 1990 she founded the artists' collective SEMEFO (Servicio Médico Forense). The main vector of her work comes from the morgues themselves, which the artist transforms into sensorial experiences that provoke a feeling of remembrance in the public. Margolles finds it particularly remarkable how the activity inside the morgues reflects the truth outside. In the case of Mexico City, Margolles observes that most of the victims belong to the lower class: "Looking at the dead, you see our society". She has won the Prince Claus Award of Netherlands and the Artes Mundi Award for Contemporary Art. She has exhibited, among other places, at the Tate or the Venice Biennale, where he represented Mexico with the work 37 bodies, which commemorates the victims of murder.