Antonio Ortega Spain, b. 1968

Antonio Ortega's artistic practice is centered on installation and performance. With minimal, apparently innocent gestures, his works aim to question collective conventions that revolve around the conflict between authority and authorship.

Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona and professor of Art and Design at La Massana, Antonio Ortega began his artistic activity with projects such as El Arte Doméstico (La Capella, 1999), Registro de Kindness (Sala Montcada, 2000) Antonio Ortega and The Contestants (The Showroom, London, 2002), Opfer sind wir alle (Museu Abteiberg, Moenchengladbach, 2003) or Faith and Enthusiasm (Espai 13, 2004).

Since 2007 his production has focused on experimental writing with works such as I hope Alice Cooper does not become a vegetarian (SMOCA, Phoenix AZ, 2007) or The Best Ten Tips Ever, In Alphabecal Order (Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp, 2009) in which the artist plays with the performative conference and the heterodox theatre.

In 2013 he published Demagoguery and propaganda in art according to Antonio Ortega and Self-management, an essay with the same name as the exhibition he curated for the Fundació Joan Miró in 2017). He has recently presented The Lesson of Johanna Van Gogh (2021) published by Como Ediciones.

Among his recent artistic projects, the plinth installed on the entire second floor of the MACBA Intento de glossar el concept demagogia (2014) stands out; the ozone generator that built a space of 1047 m3 d'air purifié for the Biennale Louvain la Neuve (2017); or the permanent installation in the dome of the MNAC Mà parallamps (2022).