Noé Martínez’s artistic practice focuses on the legacy of indigenous peoples and colonial history to make visible social problems of contemporary Mexico. Language, identity, the process of colonization in the 16th century, the processes of struggle and vindication of indigenous communities are recurring themes in his work.

Based on ethnographic research, field work, the study of different bibliographic and documentary sources, as well as his own family history, Martínez generates bodies of work that propose critical views on the interpretation of the past and the construction of the present. 

At its center, his practice is marked by the question of how identity and history are constructed, and operates a vision that moves against the current of official discourses that reveals the strength and political potential of memory. For Martínez, the body is a container through which the political potential of language, both verbal and visual, can function as a decolonial practice.

Born 1986, Morelia Michoacan, Mexico

EDUCATION
E.N.P.E.G, La Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado, (La Esmeralda), México City, México.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
La sombra de la montaña tiene tatuajes, PROYECTOS MONCLOVA GALLERY, CDMX, Mexico

2024
Noé Martínez. La historia de los caminos, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico
Las raíces coversan por debajo de la tierra, PATRON, Chicago, IL
Sintonías Inestables, Museo De Arte Contemporáneo De Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
Hasta cuarenta cuerpos fueron trocados por un animal de carga, CAC Málaga, Málaga, Spain
The Body Remembers, Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA

2023
El hierro y el tabaco, Kewenig, Berlin, Germany
El cuerpo es más grande que la historia, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico

2022
Noé Martínez and María Sosa: Tepalcates de Sueños, SI Offsite, Swiss Institute, Mexico City, Mexico

2021
El encuentro de los tepalcates, Swiss Institute, New York, NY

2020
las presencias dormidas, PATRON, Chicago, IL
La patria de las imágenes, OCMA Museum, Los Angeles. CA

2019
La ultima parte del cuerpo,Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, México City, México
Hacer cosas con palabras,MUCA Roma, México City, México
Las demandas de la memoria,Parque galería, México City, México

2018
El lenguaje, la lengua y el esclavo congénito, Efraín Lopez Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Grammaire des absences, Gramatica de las Ausencias, Clermont Ferrand, France
Azúcar y piedra, ArteBa, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2016
Un acto antes que un objeto. Parque galería, México City, México.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026
61st Venice Biennale, Mexican Pavilion, Venice, Italy (forthcoming)
a person chosen, named, or honored…, PATRON, Chicago, IL

2025
Si Llevan Agua, Son Ríos. Si No, Son Caminos, Galería Extra, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala

2024
El Dorado, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico
OTR^s MUND^s, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico
Trade Windings: De-Lineating the American Tropics, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
Resilient Currents: On Communal Re-Existence, Thanks for Nothing, Paris, France
Culture Summit Abu Dhabi: A Matter of Time, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
The shore, the tide, the current: an oceanic Caribbean, curated by Carla Acevedo-Yates and Sara Hermann Morera, ARCOmadrid, Madrid, Spain
Indigenous Histories, kode, Bergen, Norway

2023
Indigenous Histories, Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo, Brazil
Éramos Semilla, Stove Works, Chattanooga, TN
14th Gwangju Biennale: Soft and weak like water, Gwangju, South Korea
Los huecos del agua, Recent Indigenous Art from Mexico, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
Boil, Toil & Trouble, Fulton Market, Chicago, IL

2022
re: collections, Six Decades at the Rose Art Museum, Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

2021
How to Read a Vessel, AGB, Ontario, Canada
The Missing Circle, KADIST, San Francisco, CA

2020
OTRXS MUNDXS, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico

2019
Routes and territories, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL.
The Missing Circle, Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellin. Medellin, Colombia.
21 Bienal de arte contemporaneo VideoBrasil, Sao Paulo, Brasil.

2018
50 años, y ¿Qué ha cambiado?, Filmfront. Chicago, IL
Un Primertemps Mexicain “ Grupo Mira una contrahistoria de los setenta en México”,La Box, Bouges, France
Un vida domestica, curated by Jose Esparza, Salón ACME, México City, Mexico

2017
Grupo Mira, una contrahistoria de los años 70s, en México. Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico
Lecturas de un territorio fragmentado,Museo Amparo, Puebla,Mexico
Volví a ver animales en la noche,Fundación Alumnos 47, México City, Mexico

2016
Venice International performance Art Week, Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy
De la formación a lo publico,Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico
T de Tlatelolco, Centro Universitario Tlatelolco, Mexico City, Mexico

2015
Llanura, Casa de Lago Juan José Arreola, Ciudad de México, Mexico
Transcripciones,Museo Universitario del Chopo, México City, Mexico
Yo se que tu padre no entiende mi lenguaje moderno,Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo MUAC, Mexico City, Mexico
Diogenes y los perros,Casa de Lago Juan José Arreola, México City, Mexico
Depôt de dérives,Art Center Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

2013
El Objeto Unico,El gran cristal, México City, Mexico

2012
Coleccionismo el crimen fundacional,MUCA Roma, Mexico City, Mexico
Bienal Internacional de Arte Universitario,Universidad Autónoma del estado de México, Mexico

2011
No hay duda pronto nos volveremos a ver,Casa de Lago Juan José Arreola, Mexico City, Mexico

2010
Calculo diferencial variantes sobre la pírateria,Modern Art Museum, Mexico City, Mexico
Reglas de conducta,XXXVII Festival Internacional Cervantino, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024
Zara Yost, “Unearthing the Roots of Colonialism: A Review of Noé Martínez at Patron Gallery”, Newcity Art, July 23
Paula Carrizosa, “El artista Noé Martínez cuestiona y sana parte de la historia colonizadora y de esclavitud del país”, La Jornada de Oriente, July 17
“Noé Martínez: The Body Remembers”, Artishock, June 21
Christina Chirouze Montenegro, “Resilient Currents, on communal re-existence. Comisionada por Thanks for Nothing”, ArtNexus, April 19
Celina Colby, “Noé Martínez explores Indigenous ancestry and trauma of colonialism in ‘The Body Remembers’”, The Bay State Banner, March 20
Mikey Terrenzi, “Ancestral suffering, present victories: Noé Martínez’s ‘The Body Remembers’”, The Justice, March 19
Safak Costu, “Arco Art Fair Madrid: Resilience Amid Global Turmoil, Showcasing Global Talent”, BNN Breaking, March 6
BAR Editorial, “Thirteen Exhibitions to Catch This Winter”, Boston art review, February 6
Solon Kelleher, “14 art exhibits to explore this winter”, WBUR, January 11

2023
Hunter Braithwaite, “Virtual Horizons: Gwangju”, Hyundai Artlab, June 23
Nicolás Cabral, “Noé Martínez: Memoria del Cuerpo”, La Tempestad, April 18
Will Jennings, “14th Gwangju Biennale review: a stage for new voices and ancient ideas”, Wallpaper, April 12

2022
Lorena Meouchi, “Eventos elfin de semana en CDMX: 15 al 17 de julio 2022”, Vogue Mexico, July 15
Daniel Cassady, “With strong showing by Latin American artists and galleries, Expo Chicago expands thedefinition of a regional fair”, The Art Newspaper, April 8

2021
Helen Stoilas, Daniel Cassady, Nacy Kenney, Gabriella Angeleti,Wallace Ludel, “New and noteworthy: see what the Armory Show’s youngest galleries are bringing to the fair”, The Art Newspaper, September 2

AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2021
Fundacion ama amoedo residencia artística, Jose Igancio, Uruguay

2020
Clarice Oliveira Tavares Residency, Swiss Institute, New York, NY

2018
Premio de adquisición Fomento Cultural Cuervo, Zona Maco 2018. Ciudad de México, Mexico

2017
Premio de Ojo hermanos Alva, Mejor cortometraje documental. XV Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia. Morelia, Mexico
Beneficiario del programa de apoyos a proyectos de producción artística PAC Patronato de Arte Contemporáneo, Ciudad de México, Mexico

2015
Beneficiario del programa BBV Bancomer MACG Arte Actual, Cuarta edición. Ciudad de México, Mexico

2012
Beca de Jóvenes creadores, FONCA. Mexico

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Fundación Kadist, San Francisco, CA
Instituto Alumnos 47, Mexico City, Mexico
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Museo Amparo de Puebla. Puebla, Mexico
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Chicago, IL
Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA