Teresa Margolles @Kunsttage Basel

In the work of the Mexican artist Teresa Margolles, themes such as death, violence and social exclusion have been central for decades and reflect the present she has experienced and lived in Mexico City. Since the 1990s, the artist has been involved in the city’s forensic medicine department, where she is confronted almost daily with the delivery of anonymous victims of violent crimes. Against this precarious social background, Margolles develops her works, which have a maximum of thematic content with minimal gestures. The table and bench in the work shown here are initially reminiscent of ordinary street furniture; only the inserted text and the knowledge of the material used.