Santiago Sierra

Santiago Sierra (born 1966 in Madrid, Spain, lives and works in Mexico City) is one of the most controversial artists of the younger generation. His socio- and artcritical actions stir up strong emotions in an art audience that has grown accustomed to aesthetic appearances. In 2000, for example, Sierra erected a wall in the New York P.S.1 gallery’s white cube that resembled the border fence between Mexico and the USA. Behind it a volunteer lived for several weeks, supplied with only food and drink that was passed to him through a narrow opening like in a prison. Formally, Sierra stands square in the tradition of Minimal Art, Land Art and Performance Art of the 60s and 70s. He considers himself an admirer of the minimalist objects by Judd, LeWitt, and Morris. But in contrast to these heroes, Sierra charges his work with direct, personally perceivable emotional violence, and political and individual reality.