Judas Animal

In Judas Animal at Climate Control, the Mexican artist Miguel Calderón presents a new series of works exploring the complexities of identity through themes such as reincarnation, memory, theater and its double, and the thorny divide between the human and nonhuman animal realms. With this, Calderón presents us with a world seen through the eyes of outcasts and misfits, distilling the absurdity of contemporary life and the norms that define it.

In his films, photographs, and sculptures, Calderón carefully constructs or captures situations that allow reality to become unstable. His watercolors and drawings, meanwhile, are more introspective, free-associative manifestations of the artist’s subconscious, contrasting with the layered and complex social dynamics that unfold during the making of his films. Exploring dreams and nightmares that range from the ridiculous to the macabre, these works occupy a space in Calderón’s oeuvre where what matters is less where reality ends and fiction begins, but what becomes visible in the space between them.

With a career spanning three decades, Calderón’s extensive body of work examines the social rituals and class-based hierarchies that shape everyday life in Mexico. With an empathetic demeanor, sharp wit, and dark humor, he often centers individuals and communities that sit at the fringes of society, attending to the idiosyncrasies that make each person distinct while setting them against the wider social dynamics that define mainstream culture.

Judas Animal is curated by Diego Villalobos.

About the artist and curator:

Miguel Calderón (b. 1971, Mexico City, Mexico) is an important figure in the Mexican contemporary art scene, currently living and working in Mexico City. He has exhibited extensively both in Mexico and internationally. Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Neuróticos anónimos, kurimanzutto, New York (2025); Materia Estética Disponible, Monterrey Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO) and Museo Tamayo, México (2021 and 2022); Interrogatorio Inverso, Páramo Galería, Guadalajara, México (2020); El placer después (Pleasure Afterwards), kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2019); Caída Libre, Luhring Augustine, New York (2017). In addition to participating in numerous biennials and group exhibitions, Calderón was a cofounder of the now legendary independent project space called La Panadería (1994-2002). Calderón received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1994.

Diego Villalobos (b. 1991, El Paso, United States) is an independent curator, currently living and working between San Francisco and Mexico City. From 2019 to 2026, he worked at CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, where he curated numerous exhibitions and public programs, and edited publications. Notable exhibitions and programs include: Caguiat Delacruz: The Tramp (2026); 8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, 8 hours of what you will (2025–26), Viaje a la luna (2025); Hiwa K is on our mind (2024–25), Anicka Yi is on our mind (2023–24); Rodrigo Hernández: with what eyes? (2023–24); Drum Listens to Heart: Live Performances (2022–23); and Mirra Helen: Leaves 1992–2022 (2022). From 2016 to 2019, he served as a curator at The 500 Capp Street Foundation. Inspired by La Panadería, Villalobos cofounded an independent project space called 1038 (2013–15), and odium fati (2016–17), both in San Francisco. Villalobos received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2014.