Pedro Reyes

Pedro Reyes’ works often take the form of criticism of contemporary society and reflection on individual responsibility. His projects aim to trigger processes of collective transformation by stimulating interaction and creativity. One example is Disarm, a project that recycles weapons to make musical instruments. Reyes received 6,300 weapons seized from drug traffickers from the Mexican Ministry of Defense and turned them into two series of works: Imagine, a 50-piece orchestra, and Disarm, the series exhibited here, which is made of mechanical musical instruments that can be played either by musicians or software. It is crucial for the artist to consider that these weapons have taken the lives of so many, and the act of turning them into artistic instruments exorcises their harmful potential and constitutes a kind of requiem for the victims. Reyes’ operations are often utopian attempts to change the present and improve society; a world without guns is a human right to which we should all aspire. Alongside Disarm, the video Under the Cloud, presented for the first time in Italy, shows interviews with activists native to the lands where the U.S. military has tested nuclear bombs.

Pedro Reyes (1972, Mexico City, Mexico) lives and works in Mexico City. Reyes often works on large-scale projects to explore social and political issues through sculpture, performance, and video. Reyes explores ways in which change can be encouraged through communication, creativity, happiness and humour. He has had solo exhibitions at: MARTa Herford, Germany (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, Mexico (2022); Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland (2020); Creative Time, New York, USA (2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA (2015); ICA, Miami, USA (2014); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA (2011); Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA (2011); CCA Kitakyushu, Japan (2009); Bass Museum, Miami, USA (2008;). He has participated in international exhibitions such as Beijing Biennale, China (2014); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012); Liverpool Biennial, UK (2012); Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2012); Lyon Biennale, France (2009); and the 50th Venice Art Biennale (2003). In 2021 he won the Luxembourg Peace Prize.