Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo)

Biography

Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), A sculpture for Trans Women A sculpture for the Non-Binary Femmes A sculpture for Two-Spirit People • I am a woman. I don’t care what you think • (Transphobia is everywhere and everyone is susceptible to enacting it at any moment) (Unlearn the transphobia brewing within) I am a Trans Women. I am a Two-Spirit Person. I am a Woman. This is for my sisters and siblings everywhere. History erased many of us but we are still here. I will fight for our rights until the day I die. Exile me and I’ll keep fighting, 2022. Art Basel Parcours 2022, Basel. Courtesy of Art Basel.

Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses sculpture, installation, and performance. Her work often addresses personal and political concerns, exploring themes of identity, transformation, and the human experience.

Born in 1989 in Dallas, Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo lives and works in New York. In 2023–24, she presented a solo exhibition at the New Museum, where she recreated her green bedroom within the museum and lived there for the duration of the show—transforming her most private space into a public one. Her art challenges viewers to engage with complex issues through immersive and thought-provoking experiences.
In 2024, Kuriki-Olivo’s work was featured in the 60th Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa. She presented two sculptural installations that incorporated performance: one placed in the Arsenale building, and the other, exhibited in the Carlo Scarpa Garden in the Giardini, was A Sculpture for Trans Women…. For this work, Kuriki-Olivo created a life-size bronze sculpture based on a 3D scan of her own body, emblazoned with the word “WOMAN.” The piece subverts the traditional authority of monuments, making trans life visible and celebrated in an act of protest and commemoration. That same year, her work was also included in the Yokohama Triennale.
In 2022, she created a performance in the form of a ballroom gala at Performance Space New York, which raised funds for the trans community. Also in 2022, she held a solo exhibition at moCa Cleveland, and her work has been featured in numerous other solo and group exhibitions in museums across the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia.

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Works