Rodrigo Hernández
Growth#95
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
1/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
7/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
7/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
4/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
4/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
- Pricing
- Primary Market
- Gallery-controlled. Works available through Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (New York), ChertLüdde (Berlin), Galeria Madragoa (Lisbon), P420 (Bologna), and Bel Ami (Los Angeles). Contact galleries for current pricing.
- Price Transparency
- Prices not publicly disclosed — typical of gallery-controlled primary market for artists at this career stage.
- Estimated Range Note
- Given the caliber of representation (Tanya Bonakdar is a top-tier gallery) and institutional validation, primary market pricing likely ranges from low-to-mid five figures for works on paper/smaller paintings to mid-to-high five figures for sculptures and larger installations. This is an estimate based on comparable artists at similar career stages with similar gallery representation.
- Medium Differentiation
- Bronze sculptures, hand-hammered brass reliefs, and larger installations likely command highest prices. Oil paintings on wood and works on paper at lower price points.
- Liquidity
- Depth
- Very thin — no established secondary market
- Resale Note
- Works that do come to secondary market would likely be through private sales or gallery resale programs rather than public auction.
- Annual Volume
- Essentially zero secondary market transactions. All sales through primary galleries.
- Collector Base
- Profile
- Institutional and serious private collectors. The Rennie Collection and Fiorucci Foundation are high-profile collections.
- Geographic Distribution
- Collectors span Europe (Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France, UK, Spain, Monaco), Latin America (Mexico), and North America (Canada/Vancouver). US collector base likely expanding with Tanya Bonakdar representation.
- Institutional Collectors
- Rennie Collection (Vancouver — major private collection), Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation (London), Colección Diéresis (Guadalajara), 1800 Colleción (Tequila), AGI Verona, ABN AMRO Art Collection (Amsterdam), Villa Santo Sospir (Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat)
- Primary Market
- Galleries
- Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (New York)ChertLüdde (Berlin)Galeria Madragoa (Lisbon)P420 (Bologna)Bel Ami (Los Angeles)Antenna Space (Shanghai)
- Access Note
- Multi-gallery representation across major art capitals suggests organized primary market strategy. Tanya Bonakdar as lead US gallery likely managing pricing coordination.
- Auction History
- Auction Record
- No verified auction record found
- Notable Results
- No publicly recorded auction results with disclosed prices found across major houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips).
- Sell Through Rate
- Insufficient data to calculate
- Total Lots at Auction
- MutualArt records only 1 artwork at auction. Essentially no secondary market history.
- Market Position
- Segment
- Emerging-to-mid-career artist with rapidly accelerating institutional profile. Primary market only — no meaningful secondary market yet established.
- Trajectory
- Strong upward trajectory. The 2025 signing with Tanya Bonakdar Gallery represents a major gallery upgrade that will likely establish higher price points and broader collector access, particularly in the US market.
- Market Type
- Gallery-controlled primary market
- Peer Comparables
- Comparable to other mid-career artists represented by Tanya Bonakdar and similar galleries who work across sculpture and painting with strong institutional profiles — artists like Tomás Saraceno (earlier career stage), Sarah Sze (earlier stage), or within Latin American context, artists like Gabriel Rico, Tania Pérez Córdova.
- Investment Outlook
- Risk Factors
- Very limited secondary market makes liquidity a concern. Primary market dependency means pricing is opaque. Artist's conceptual/installation-based practice may limit collectibility for some segments. However, bronze sculptures and paintings on wood provide accessible entry points.
- Positive Indicators
- Exceptional institutional validation for career stage. Strong critical reception. Multi-continental gallery network. Major gallery upgrade signals confidence from sophisticated art market operators.
- Short Term 1 2 Years
- Tanya Bonakdar debut (Sept 2025) is a key catalyst. Expect increased visibility in US market, potential museum acquisitions from US institutions, and pricing consolidation at higher levels. Frieze LA / Bel Ami presentation in 2025 builds Los Angeles market presence.
- Medium Term 3 5 Years
- If institutional trajectory continues (biennial invitations, museum solos), expect emergence of secondary market with premium over original gallery prices. Comparison with peer artists at Tanya Bonakdar suggests strong potential for 6-figure pricing within 3-5 years.
Institutional Presence
- Exhibitions
- Selected Solo Exhibitions
Title Year Venue Location What else did I see? 2025 Tanya Bonakdar Gallery New York beautiful he stirs up still things 2025 Bel Ami / Frieze Los Angeles Los Angeles stars around this beautiful moon hide back their luminous form 2024 ChertLüdde Berlin A Lyriform Organ 2024 Antenna Space Shanghai Solo exhibition 2024 Galería Municipal do Porto Porto Solo exhibition 2024 Kunsthalle Münster Münster with what eyes? 2023-2024 CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts San Francisco Flux of Things 2023 Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover Carrés 2023 Künstlerhaus Bremen Bremen El Espejo 2022 Museo Jumex Mexico City I Am a Stranger and I Am Moving 2022 Swiss Institute/Offsite (Astor Place) New York Rostro Responsivo / EL ESPEJO 2022 Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín Medellín, Colombia Petit-Musc 2021 Kunsthalle Kohta Helsinki Pasado 2021 CIAJG Guimarães, Portugal Dampcloot 2020 Galerie Fons Welters Amsterdam A Moth to a Flame 2020 SCAD Museum of Art Savannah, GA What do I hear when I hear the flow of time? 2019 Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros Mexico City Solo exhibition 2019 NoguerasBlanchard Barcelona El nudo 2019 CarrerasMugica Bilbao O mundo real não alça voo 2018 Pivô São Paulo Who Loves You 2018 Kunsthalle Winterthur Winterthur, Switzerland A Complete Unknown 2018 Midway Contemporary Art Minneapolis THE GOURD & THE FISH 2018 SALTS Birsfelden, Switzerland The Shakiest of Things 2017 kim? Contemporary Art Centre Riga, Latvia Solo exhibition 2016 kurimanzutto Mexico City Solo exhibition 2016-2017 Bonnefanten Museum Maastricht - Selected Group Exhibitions and Biennials
Title Year Venue Location 12th Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (forms of the surrounding futures) 2023 Gothenburg — Edge Effect: Biennial of the Americas 2022 Denver — Guests: Artists and Craftspeople 2020 Istanbul Modern Istanbul Future Generation Art Prize 2019 2019 Palazzo Ca'Tron Venice Group exhibition 2018 GaMec (Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea) Bergamo, Italy Group exhibition 2017-2018 ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe Group exhibition 2017 Gladstone Gallery Brussels Group exhibition 2017 MendesWoodDM Brussels 5th Moscow Biennale c.2013 Moscow — Group exhibitions — Kunsthalle Basel, David Roberts Art Foundation (London), Kunsthaus Baselland —
- Residencies
Year Location Residency 2025 Paris ArtExplora 2019 Istanbul Istanbul Modern 2018 São Paulo Pivô 2013 New York Residency Unlimited 2013 Basel Christoph Merian Stiftung 2013 Salzburg Salzburg Sommerakademie - Publications
Title Year Publisher What is the moon? 2014 Bonnefanten Museum / Bom Dia Verlag, Berlin How do you do? 2014 VIS publications A Sense of Possibility 2014 VIS publications Dutch Flat Things 2014 Mark Pezinger Verlag Left Eye, Right Eye 2013 Charles Nypels Lab, Jan Van Eyck Academie Sculptures 2012 Mark Pezinger Verlag, Berlin POT 2012 Fluid Editions, Karlsruhe - Museum Collections
- Tier 2 International
Institution Location Notes Nouveau Musée National de Monaco Monaco National museum collection Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (CA2M) / Fundación ARCO Madrid, Spain Major Spanish contemporary art institution Bonnefanten Museum Maastricht, Netherlands Major Dutch museum Museum Haus Konstruktiv Zurich, Switzerland — Kunstmuseum Sankt-Gallen St. Gallen, Switzerland — Basel Stadt Kunstsammlung Basel, Switzerland City of Basel art collection Museo Amparo Puebla, Mexico Important Mexican museum - Other Institutional Collections
Institution Location Espacio de Arte Contemporánea Mexico City Colección Diéresis Guadalajara, Mexico 1800 Colleción Tequila, Mexico AGI Verona Verona, Italy - Major Private Collections with Institutional Status
Institution Location Notes Rennie Collection Vancouver, Canada One of Canada's most important private collections with public exhibition space Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation London, UK — ABN AMRO Art Collection Amsterdam, Netherlands Major corporate collection Villa Santo Sospir Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France —
- Upcoming Exhibitions
- Dates
- September 3 - October 23, 2025
- Notes
- First exhibition with gallery
- Title
- What else did I see?
- Venue
- Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
- Location
- New York
- Awards and Recognition
Year Notes Award Nominated by 2019 Biannual global prize by Victor Pinchuk Foundation. Exhibition at Palazzo Ca'Tron, Venice. Future Generation Art Prize — 2015 Selected by critic/curator Chris Sharp for Frieze's annual emerging talent feature Frieze 'FutureGreat' Chris Sharp 2019 Selected by major critic Barbara Casavecchia Frieze 'Four Artists to Watch in 2020' Barbara Casavecchia
Career & Biography
- Identity
- Gender
- Male
- Website
- http://rodrigo-hernandez.net/
- Full Name
- Rodrigo Hernández
- Birth Year
- 1983
- Birth Place
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Nationality
- Mexican
- Current Location
- Mexico City (previously divided time between Lisbon, Basel, and Mexico City)
- Education
Institution Location Notes Degree E.N.P.E.G. 'La Esmeralda' (Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado) Mexico City Mexico's premier fine arts academy BFA Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe Karlsruhe, Germany Major German art academy BA (2013) Jan Van Eyck Academie Maastricht, Netherlands Prestigious post-graduate research institute Post-graduate residency - Residencies
- ArtExplora, Paris (2025)Istanbul Modern (2019)Pivô, São Paulo (2018)Residency Unlimited, New York (2013)Christoph Merian Stiftung, Basel (2013)Salzburg Sommerakademie (2013)
- Career Timeline
- Early Career 2010s
- Trained in Mexico City and Germany, followed by post-graduate study in the Netherlands. Began exhibiting in European kunsthallen and project spaces including Kunsthalle Basel, Kunsthaus Baselland, and SALTS Basel.
- Mid Career 2015 2018
- Named a FutureGreat by Chris Sharp in Frieze (2015). Solo exhibitions at Museo del Chopo (Mexico City, 2015), kurimanzutto (Mexico City, 2016), kim? Contemporary Art Centre (Riga, 2017), Kunsthalle Winterthur (2018), Midway Contemporary (Minneapolis, 2018), SALTS (Basel, 2018). Participated in 5th Moscow Biennale. Growing European institutional presence.
- Breakthrough 2019 2022
- Finalist for the Future Generation Art Prize 2019 (shown at Palazzo Ca'Tron, Venice). Named one of Frieze's 'Four Artists to Watch in 2020' by Barbara Casavecchia. Solo exhibitions at SCAD Museum of Art (2020), Istanbul Modern participation (2020), Kunsthalle Kohta Helsinki (2021), Swiss Institute New York (2022), Museo Jumex Mexico City (2022), Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (2022).
- Acceleration 2023 Present
- 12th Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (2023). Solo at Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover (2023). First US solo at CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco (2023-2024). Solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Münster and Antenna Space Shanghai (2024). Joined Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (2025), with debut solo show September-October 2025. Exhibition at Bel Ami / Frieze Los Angeles (2025). ArtExplora Paris residency (2025).
- Studio Practice
- Works across drawing, painting, relief, sculpture, and installation. Materials include bronze, papier-mâché, oil on wood, hand-hammered brass, and molded plastic. Each exhibition is typically conceived as a total installation — a 'rebus' of various sources including poetry, philosophy, narrative, and dreams. Process often begins with an anecdote or question inspired by literary/aesthetic texts, translated first into drawing.
- Artistic Influences and Context
- Hernández's work is deeply rooted in the interplay between Mexican Pre-Columbian art, classical Japanese printmaking, European modernism (particularly Dada and Surrealism), philosophy, and poetry. Chris Sharp described him as a 'Mexico-Dadaist' who is driven by a desire to reduce artmaking to its most fundamental components. Key influences include René Magritte's 'Les mots et les images' and the philosopher David M. Peña-Guzmán. He is part of a generation of Mexican artists with strong international careers who trained in both Latin America and Europe.
Artistic Profile
- Style
- Formal Approach
- Reductive but not minimal — seeks the 'fundamental, primeval components' of art-making while maintaining richness of reference and visual poetry.
- Visual Language
- Highly idiosyncratic and personal. Creates dream-like, surreal imagery that blurs boundaries between painting and sculpture, fact and fiction, sense and nonsense. Works feature human figures in states of levitation, weightlessness, and fragility. Intimately scaled compositions with luminous, glowing surfaces.
- Distinctive Features
- Exhibitions conceived as total installations — 'rebuses' combining multiple sources. Hand-made quality is paramount. Bronze sculptures often recall Brancusi's ovoid forms but rendered as hollow vessels. Painted pedestals and architectural interventions shape viewing experience.
- Evolution
- Early Work
- More focused on fundamental sculptural and drawing concerns — reduction of form to essential components. Strong emphasis on handmade quality and papier-mâché.
- Recent Work 2023 2025
- New body of work explores nonhuman consciousness and animal dreaming (CCA Wattis exhibition). Bronze sculptures and hand-hammered brass reliefs becoming more prominent. Dream imagery more refined and luminous. Tanya Bonakdar debut features bronze sculptures, papier-mâché, oil paintings on wood, and brass reliefs in an integrated installation.
- Mid Career Development
- Increasingly ambitious installations combining painting, sculpture, and architectural elements. Growing engagement with philosophical and literary sources.
- Influences
- Art Historical
- René MagritteConstantin BrancusiPre-Columbian art and Mesoamerican iconographyClassical Japanese printmaking (ukiyo-e)European Dada and SurrealismFashion
- Contemporary Context
- Part of an international generation of artists interested in reviving handmade, material practices within conceptual frameworks. Connects to broader contemporary interest in non-Western cosmologies and epistemologies.
- Visual Language
- Scale
- Primarily intimate scale — small oil paintings on wood, modestly sized bronze sculptures. Installations can be room-sized but composed of intimately scaled individual elements.
- Composition
- Surreal juxtapositions within carefully arranged spatial compositions. Individual works within an installation relate to each other like elements of a dream — connected by associative rather than narrative logic.
- Color Palette
- Luminous, warm tones. Paintings have a 'glowing' quality. Bronze and brass surfaces provide warm metallic tones.
- Themes and Subjects
- Primary Themes
- The relationship between words and images (after Magritte)Dreams and the subconsciousNonhuman consciousness and animal cognition (recent work)The body and its meaning in contemporary societyEpistemology and the limits of knowledgeThe interplay between fiction and perception
- Literary Engagement
- Poetry is a consistent source — exhibitions and works often reference or are inspired by specific poems and literary texts.
- Philosophical Sources
- David M. Peña-Guzmán (philosophy of animal consciousness)René Magritte (word-image relations)Socrates (epistemology of ignorance)
- Movements and Periods
- Historical Lineages
- Surrealism (particularly Magritte)DadaEuropean Modernism (Brancusi)Mesoamerican/Pre-Columbian art
- Primary Associations
- Contemporary artNeo-SurrealismPost-conceptual sculpture
- Art Historical Context
- Hernández occupies a unique position at the intersection of Mexican artistic traditions (Pre-Columbian iconography, muralism's legacy of synthesis) and European modernist/avant-garde lineages (Surrealism, Dada, Brancusi's reduction of form). His work has been described as 'Mexico-Dadaist' by Swiss critics.
- Techniques and Mediums
- Materials
- BronzePapier-mâchéOil paint on woodHand-hammered brassPlywood (for pedestals/architectural elements)Molded plastic
- Process Notes
- Exhibitions typically begin with an anecdote or philosophical question, translated first into drawing, then expanded across multiple media. Drawing is foundational — often a diagram drawing serves as the 'key' or map for an entire installation.
- Primary Mediums
- DrawingPainting (oil on wood)Sculpture (bronze, papier-mâché)Relief (hand-hammered brass)Installation
- Key Series and Bodies of Work
- with what eyes? (2023-2024) — exploring animal consciousness through painting and sculpture
- El Espejo / The Mirror (2022) — shown at Museo Jumex and Medellín
- Flux of Things (2023) — Kestner Gesellschaft installation
- Nothing is Solid. Nothing can be held in my hand for too long (2019) — Future Generation Art Prize Venice
- O mundo real não alça voo / The Real World Does Not Take Flight (2018) — Pivô São Paulo
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Critical Summary
- Hernández has received consistent critical attention from top-tier art publications since 2015, with a clear acceleration from 2018 onwards. His work has been championed by influential curator-critics including Chris Sharp and Barbara Casavecchia. The critical narrative positions him as an artist deeply engaged with epistemological questions through a distinctive surrealist-inflected visual language rooted in both Mexican and European traditions.
- Curatorial Champions
- Chris Sharp (curator and critic — curated Hernández's kurimanzutto show, wrote FutureGreat and ArtReview features)
- Barbara Casavecchia (critic — Frieze 'Artists to Watch' feature)
- Diego Villalobos (curator of CCA Wattis solo exhibition)
- Ana Pérez Escoto (curator of multiple exhibitions including MARCO Monterrey and PEANA)
- Rosa Lleó (curator at NoguerasBlanchard)
- Tier 1 Publication Features
Title Year Publication Type Four Artists to Watch in 2020 2019 (published late 2019 for 2020) Frieze Artists to Watch list — 2015 Frieze FutureGreat feature Rodrigo Hernández at Galerie Fons Welters 2020 Artforum Exhibition review Rodrigo Hernández: What is the moon? 2015 ArtReview Feature/review Rodrigo Hernández: The Shakiest of Things 2017 ArtReview Review Les mots et les images 2017 Flash Art Feature Things are moving 2015 Mousse Magazine Feature Rodrigo Hernández at Salts, Basel 2018 ARTnews Exhibition mention Your Guide to the Best Shows in Basel 2018 Frieze Guide mention Art Basel 2018: Swiss Institute director Simon Castets' picks 2018 CNN Style Feature mention
- Publications and Media
- Artist Books
- What is the moon? (Bonnefanten/Bom Dia Verlag, 2014)Sculptures (Mark Pezinger Verlag, 2012)POT (Fluid Editions, 2012)Left Eye, Right Eye (Jan Van Eyck, 2013)
- Video Documentation
- Interview with Rodrigo Hernández, Pivô TV (2018)Video guided visit at Madragoa (2021)Future Generation Art Prize 2019 video
- Exhibition Catalogues
- Featured in: Resonanzen (ZKM/Kerber Verlag), There'll never be a door you're inside (Fundación Banco Santander), Future Generation Art Prize 2019 catalogue
Gallery & Representation
- Fair Presence
- Likely
- Works likely shown at Art Basel, FIAC/Paris+, Frieze London through representing galleries (ChertLüdde, P420, Madragoa are regular fair participants).
- Confirmed
- Frieze Los Angeles 2025 (with Bel Ami — two-part exhibition)
- Representation
- Primary Galleries
Location Gallery Status Tier Website New York Tanya Bonakdar Gallery Newly represented as of 2025 Tier 1-2 (top international gallery) https://www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/artists/152-rodrigo-hernandez/ Berlin ChertLüdde Active long-term representation Tier 2-3 (established Berlin gallery) https://chertluedde.com/artist/rodrigo-hernandez/ Lisbon Galeria Madragoa Active representation Tier 2-3 (well-regarded Portuguese gallery) https://www.galeriamadragoa.pt/artists/577e7ad641bcb79d5b70d1c7 Bologna, Italy P420 Active representation Tier 2-3 — Los Angeles Bel Ami Active representation (2025 exhibition at Bel Ami / Frieze LA) Tier 2-3 (respected LA gallery) — Shanghai Antenna Space Exhibited 2024, likely ongoing representation Tier 2-3 (leading Shanghai gallery) — - Gallery History Note
- Previously exhibited with kurimanzutto (Mexico City, 2016 — major Latin American gallery), Galerie Fons Welters (Amsterdam), NoguerasBlanchard (Barcelona), CarrerasMugica (Bilbao), Gladstone Gallery (Brussels, group show), MendesWoodDM (Brussels). The trajectory shows steady gallery upgrades from smaller project spaces to major international galleries.
- Representation Evolution
- Started with European mid-tier galleries (ChertLüdde, Madragoa, P420), expanded to global network. 2025 Tanya Bonakdar signing represents the most significant gallery upgrade — moving from strong mid-tier European representation to a top-tier New York gallery.
- Geographic Reach
- Primary Markets
- United States (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco)Germany (Berlin)Portugal (Lisbon)Italy (Bologna)China (Shanghai)
- Secondary Markets
- MexicoNetherlandsSwitzerlandSpainColombiaLatviaFinland
- Market Expansion Note
- 2024-2025 marks a significant US market push with CCA Wattis solo (SF), Swiss Institute (NY), Bel Ami (LA), and Tanya Bonakdar debut (NY). Shanghai exhibition (Antenna Space, 2024) opens Asian market.
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