MOAD Talks
Jorge Pardo in Conversation with Lynne Cooke

Curator Lynne Cooke speaks with Jorge Pardo about his exhibition, Mongrel, on view in the Skylight Gallery at MOAD until May 1, 2022. An immersive installation inspired in part by his own past, including passing through the Freedom Tower as a child refugee from Cuba, the artist’s project includes newly commissioned drawings, chandeliers, and a carpet. Pardo and Cooke discuss the experiences, memories and creative ideas that underlie Mongrel.

Lynne Cooke is Senior Curator, Special Projects in Modern Art, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Previously, she was the chief curator at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid (2008–12) and curator at the Dia Art Foundation in New York (1991–2008). She has published widely on the work of contemporary and modern artists, including Agnes Martin, Zoe Leonard, James Castle, and Alighiero Boetti. She is currently curating Braided Histories: Modernist Abstraction and Woven Forms, scheduled for fall 2023.

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1963, Jorge Pardo studied at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and received his BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Pardo’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Pinacoteca de Estado São Paulo, São Paulo (2019); Musée des Augustins, Toulouse (2014); Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2010); K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2009); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2008); and Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (2007). Paintings by the artist were included in the 57th Venice Biennale (2017). Jorge Pardo currently lives and works in Mérida, Mexico.