EDUARDO KAC
Chronological Biography
1962 Birth
1980 Creates a performance group focused on public interventions and performs regularly on beaches, squares, theaters, television.
Begins "Pornograms", series of works that merge poetry, photography, performance and body politics.
1981 Begins to wear a pink mini-skirt both to carry out daily chores and in performances.
Creates object-poems, sticker-poems, t-shirt-poems and other non-traditional forms.
Publishes two poetry books.
1982 Conclusion of performance series with intervention and demonstration on Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro.
Conclusion of "Pornograms".
Expands experimentation with multiple media and processes, including graffiti, photography, visual poetry, artist's book, rubber stamps, photocopiers,
clothing, billboards.
Creates his first digital poem "No!".
1983 Invention of Holopoetry; creation of first holopoem
Publication of artist's book "Escracho", in which Kac includes performance documentation, pornograms, and digital poetry, among other works by him as
well as other artists and writers.
1984 Participates in the landmark exhibition "Como Vai Você, Geração 80?", at Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro.
Installs a digital poetry permanent display at Centro Cultural Cândido Mendes, Rio de Janeiro. Inaugurates the digital poetry permanent display with his
digital poem "No!".
1985 First Holopoetry solo show, at Museum of Image and Sound, São Paulo
Presents online pieces in the Brazilian digital network (videotext aka minitel, a precursor of the Internet)
Acquisition Award at the National Salon of Fine Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro
Finishes his studies in communications theory, linguistics, philosophy and semiotics at Rio's Catholic University
Shows holopoetry in a group exhibition at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.
1986 Organizes the group show "Brasil High Tech" at the Galeria Centro Empresarial Rio, Rio de Janeiro.
First telepresence work with wireless radio-controlled robot shown at "Brasil High Tech" ; participants could converse with the public through the body of
the mobile robot.
Resident Artist at the Museum of Holography, New York.
1987 Works with fax, televison, Slow Scan TV (aka videophone).
1988 Holopoetry solo show at Funarte, Rio de Janeiro.
Studies philosophy and contemporary theory at Universidade Federal, Rio de Janeiro.
1989 Moves to Chicago.
Creates the Ornitorrinco telepresence project (with Ed Bennett).
1990 First international Ornitorrinco event, linking Chicago and Rio de Janeiro.
Solo show, Museum of Holography, New York.
Master of Fine Arts, The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.
1992 "Ornitorrinco in Copacabana", shown at Siggraph Art Show, Chicago.
1993 "Ornitorrinco on the Moon", shown at Künstlerhaus, Graz, Austria, linking Chicago to Graz.
1994 First wireless telerobotic artwork on the Internet: "Ornitorrinco in Eden", shown online and simultaneously in galleries in Chicago, Lexington (KY), and
Seattle.
First bio artwork: "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (a telecommunications piece conceived for a bird and plant, not humans).
1995 "Escracho" enters the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Develops the "Telepresence Garment".
1996 "Ornitorrinco, the Webot, travels around the world in eighty nanoseconds going from Turkey to Peru and back", shown on the Internet and at Otso Gallery,
in Espoo, Finland.
"Ornitorrinco in the Sahara", shown at St. Petersburg Biennale, in Russia, linking Chicago and St. Petersburg.
"Rara Avis" premieres on the Internet and at Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta.
"Teleporting An Unknown State" premieres on the Internet and at the Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans.
Kac's anthology "New Media Poetry" is published as a special issue of the journal Visible Language.
1997 "A-positive" (with Ed Bennett) premieres at Gallery 2, Chicago.
"Time Capsule" is commissioned and subsequently censored by Itaú Cultural Center, São Paulo, generating media controversy.
"Time Capsule" is presented live on televison, as a live webcast, and at Casa das Rosas, a cultural center in São Paulo. It is the first microchip implant
tracked online. The international press debates its social and cultural implications.
1998 First proposes transgenic art.
Publishes "Transgenic Art" text in Leonardo Electronic Almanac proposing the creation of a green fluorescent dog and its social integration.
"Teleporting An Unknown State - Web Version" premieres on the Internet and at Kibla Art Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia.
1999 "Darker Than Night" is shown in a bat cave at the Rotterdam Zoo, as part of the exhibition "Fables of a Technological Era".
First transgenic artwork: "Genesis" premieres at Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria, and on the Internet.12/19/2020 Chronological Biography
https://www.ekac.org/bio2pg.html 2/4
Presents and discusses transgenic art in a lecture at Ars Electronica, generating controversy with the audience and in the international press.
"Uirapuru" premieres at ICC Biennial, InterCommunication Center, Tokyo, and on the Internet. "Uirapuru" receives an award at the ICC Biennial.
2000 Alba, the green fluorescent rabbit, is born in Jouy-en-Josas, France, as part of the work "GFP Bunny".
"GFP Bunny" presented publicly at Grenier à Sel, in Avignon, in the context of the Avignon Numerique festival.
"GFP Bunny" is censored by the lab where Alba, the green bunny, was born, thus generating media controversy.
Front page article on "GFP Bunny" in the "Boston Globe" starts international press chain reaction and provokes global debates on the social presence of
genetically engineered organisms and their cultural implications.
"Genesis" is shown at Itau Cultural Center, São Paulo
Fellowship (Phase I) at Institute for Studies in the Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe, to develop "The Eighth Day"
"Genesis" is shown at Exit Art, New York
The book "Eduardo Kac: Telepresence, Biotelematics, Transgenic Art" is published.
2001 Solo exhibition at Julia Friedman Gallery, Chicago
"Teleporting an Unknown State" is shown as part of the travelling exhibition "Telematic Connections: The Virtual Embrace", organized by Independent
Curators International (ICI), New York, and curated by Steve Dietz.
Fellowship (Phase II) at Institute for Studies in the Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe, to exhibit "The Eighth Day"
"The Eighth Day" is shown Arizona State University, Tempe
"Genesis" is shown at the Yokohama Triennial, Japan
"Genesis" is shown at the Fundación Telefonica, Madrid
"Free Alba!" photo series shown at Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
2002 "Free Alba!", solo exhibition at Julia Friedman Gallery, Chicago
"Genesis" is shown at Henry Art Gallery, Seattle
"Genesis" is shown at Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
2003 Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, "American Dream: A Survey" ("Free Alba!" photographs, t-shirts, "It's not easy being green!" artist's book)
Lieu Unique, "L'Art Biotech", Nantes, France ("Free Alba!" photographs,, "Transcription Jewels", "The Eighth Day" video", "Free Alba!" posters)
Public art commission for the University of Minnesota, MN
The book "The Eighth Day: The Transgenic Art of Eduardo Kac" is published
Begins development of "Natural History of the Enigma" (Edunia)
2004 "Move 36" is shown at Gwangju Biennale, Korea, and at XXVI Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil
"Rabbit Remix" solo exhibition at Laura Marsiaj Arte Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro
Kac's book "Luz & Letra : Ensaios de arte, literatura e comunicação [Light & Letter. Essays in art, literature and communication]" is published by Editora
Contra Capa, Rio de Janeiro
2005 "Move 36" solo exhibition at Galerie Biche de Bere, Paris
Kac's book "Telepresence and Bio Art: Networking Humans, Rabbits, and Robots" is published by University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor
The book "Eduardo Kac : Move 36", edited by Elena Giulia Rossi, is published by Filigranes Éditions, Paris (French/English)
2006 Solo show at ARCO 2006, Madrid, with Black Box Gallery, Copenhagen
"Time Capsule" receives the ARCO/BEEP Acquisition Award at ARCO 2006, Madrid
Solo exhibition at Fundación Telefónica, Buenos Aires
Solo show at Scope art fair, New York, with Ashley Gallery, Philadelphia
Solo show at SLICK art fair, Paris, with Ashley Gallery, Philadelphia
Participation in the Singapore Biennial, Singapore, with "Specimen of Secrecy about Marvelous Discoveries"
Lives and works in Paris between 2006 and 2007
2007 Mid-career survey at Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM), Valencia, Spain, with catalogue [curator: Angel Kalenberg]; "Time Capsule" online
event during the opening celebrates 10th anniversary of microchip implant
"Genesis" and "Telepresence Garment" accessed into IVAM's permanent collection.
"Specimen of Secrecy about Marvelous Discoveries" : solo show at Fringe Exhibitions, Los Angeles
Solo show at ARCO 2007 with Laura Marsiaj Gallery
As the first poet-in-residence at the French Poetry Biennial, Kac holds the exhibition "Hodibis Potax," a survey that includes holopoems, digital poems,
and biopoems.
Kac's book "Hodibis Potax," collecting Kac's experimental poetry, is published by Action Poétique (France) and Kibla (Slovenia) in English and French
Kac's book "Signs of Life: Bio Art and Beyond", is published by MIT Press
Kac's book "Media Poetry: an International Anthology" (2nd edition; 1st edition 1996), is published by Intellect, Bristol, UK
Kac's book "Life Extreme," in collaboration with Avital Ronell, is published by Dis Voir, Paris, as separate English and French editions
The monograph "L'art à l'ère des biotechnologies: La question du vivant dans l'art transgénique d'Eduardo Kac" [Art in the Biotech Age: The Transgenic
Art of Eduardo Kac], by Mathieu Noury, is published by Le Manuscrit, Paris.
2008 Edunia germinates (after five years of development)
Kac’s permanent public sculpture “Natural History of the Enigma” is installed in St. Paul, Minnesota (commissioned by the University of Minnesota)
Visiting Artist at Le Fresnoy, France
Publication of the DVD "Eduardo Kac: Holopoèmes, Poèmes minitel, poèmes numériques, Biopoèmes:, Son@rt, Paris
2009 "Natural History of the Enigma", solo show at the Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis
"Natural History of the Enigma" prints and seedpacks containing Edunia seeds accessed into Weisman Art Museum permanent collection.
"Natural History of the Enigma" receives the 2009 Golden Nica Award (Hybrid Art category), the highest prize awarded by Ars Electronica, the most
prestigious award in the field of media arts
Solo show at Center for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, Poland, "Lagoglyphs : The Bunny Variations"
Solo show at Black Box Gallery, Linz, Austria,"Lagoglyphs : The Bunny Variations"
Cypher premieres at Rurart, Rouillé, France.
"Genesis" is shown at Espace Sextius, during the Seconde Nature Festival, in Aix-en-Provence, France, celebrating ten years of non-stop exhibition of this
work
Visiting Artist at Le Fresnoy, France; Kac's commission [the biotope entitled "Doohickey"] is exhibited in the show "Panorama".
2010 "Lagoglyphs, Biotopes and Transgenic Works", solo show curated by Christiane Paul, Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro
Commission: Lagoogleglyph I at Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro
"Pornograms: 1980-1982", solo Show at Laura Marsiaj Arte Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro
“We Write This To You From The Distant Future”, group show at Google, Inc., New York12/19/2020 Chronological Biography
https://www.ekac.org/bio2pg.html 3/4
The book "Eduardo Kac : El creador de seres imposibles" [Eduardo Kac: Creator of Impossible Beings], edited by Andrés Burbano, is published by
Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia.
2nd International Contemporary Art Biennale "Beyond", Poznan, Poland
The Spanish translation of Kac's book "Telepresence and Bio Art" is published in Spain by Cendeac
Solo show at Factoría gallery, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Solo show at DAM gallery, Berlin
2011 "Life, Light & Language", solo show at Enghien-les-Bains Art Center, Enghien-les-Bains, France
"Eduardo Kac: Living Works", solo show at PAV and Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy
"TransLife", group show at National Art Museum of China, Beijing
"Aromapoetry", world premiere at Enghien-les-Bains Art Center, Enghien-les-Bains, France
III Biennial of the End of the World, Ushuaia, Argentina
"Underwood" , group show at Galerie 1900-2000, Paris
"Lagoglyphs", solo show at Factoría Havana, Havana, Cuba
"Genesis" at Graham Gund Gallery, Gambier, Ohio
2012 Solo show at Tatiana Kourochkina Gallery, Barcelona (Recent Works).
Group show, dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel (Wordly House project).
Group show, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy (Le scatole viventi).
Group show, Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid (Perder la forma humana).
Group show, San José, California (Zero1 Biennial).
Group show, Fundacíon Telefónica, Madrid (Vida)
2013 Solo show at Black Box Gallery, Copenhagen (New Works).
Solo show at Galeria Bunkier Sztuki, Cracow, Poland (Lagoglyphs).
Group show, The Observatory, Brooklyn, New York, "Cut/Paste/Grow"
Group show, ZKM-Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany, "Schriftfilme. TypEmotion – Schrift als Bild in Bewegung: Ein dynamisches Archiv"
[Script films. TypEmotion – Script as a moving image: A dynamic archive]
Group show, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., "Electronic Literature"
Group show, Galerie Bildende Kunst, Vienna, "Landscape (With Flowers)"
Group show, Galerie Martine et Thibault de la Châtre, Paris, "Libérons la fleur."
Group show, Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Group show, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler Gallery, Berlin, "From Radiance and Dissolution."
2014 Solo show at Galerie Charlot, Paris, “Olfactory Art”
Solo show at Henrique Faria Fine Art, New York, “Pornograms: 1980-1982”
Solo show at Oi Futuro Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, “Eduardo Kac: Poesia digital, 1982-1999”
Group show, Bauhaus-Archiv Museum Für Gestaltung, Berlin, "Sensing the Future"
Group show, CAC-Muntref y Parque de la Memoria, Buenos Aires, "Perder la Forma Humana"
Group show, FACT, Liverpool, "Type Motion. Type as Image in Motion"
Group show, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, La Coruña, Spain, "Y se hizo la luz (Et facta est lux)"
Group show, Museu de Arte do Rio—MAR, Rio de Janeiro, “Josephine Baker and Le Corbusier in Rio—A Transatlantic Affair”
Publication of the catalogue of the Porn Art Movement (1980-1982) by Printed Matter, New York
2015 Commission: Lagoogleglyph II at Es Baluard Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Solo show at Laura Marsiaj Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, "Early Media Works"
Havana Biennial, Cuba, “Lagoglyph Animation”
Group show, Centro Cultural Tlatelolco, Mexico, “Electronic Literature: Politics and the Body in the Digital Present”
Group show, Galerie Charlot, Paris, "6PM YLT, a distributed art exhibition"
Group show, Henrique Faria Buenos Aires, "Grafias y Ecuaciones"
Group show, Museu de Arte do Rio , Rio de Janeiro, “Mulheres modernas no Rio”
Group show, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, "Schriftfilme. TypEmotion – Schrift als Bild in Bewegung: Ein dynamisches Archiv [Script films.
TypEmotion – Script as a moving image: A dynamic archive]”
Group show, Poetry Foundation, Chicago, “Volatile!”
Group show, Salts Gallery, Basel, "The Printed Room: Poems 1990-2001"
Group show, Universum, Mexico, “Electronic Literature: Hybrid Scenarios”
Article on Porn Art movement, Art in America magazine, November 2015
Talk, TEDx, Vienna
2016 Solo show at Geary Contemporary, New York, "The Lagoglyph Series"
Solo show at La Plaque Tournante, Berlin, "Eduardo Kac: From the Pink Miniskirt to the Green Bunny"
Solo show, Victoria & Albert Museum (Members Room), London, "Move 36"
Solo show at Black Box Gallery Showroom, Copenhagen, "Natural History of the Enigma"
Group show, Whitechapel Gallery, London, "Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966)”
Group show, Rhizome at the New Museum, New York, "Net Art Anthology"
Group show, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, “Vision”
Group show, Power Station of Art Shanghai, China, "Snacks"
Group show, Thoma Foundation, Chicago, "Shadow & Space"
Exhibition, Beijing Media Art Biennial, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
Group show, Henrique Faria Gallery, Buenos Aires, "Poner el cuerpo"
Group show, Museum Schloss Moyland Foundation, Bedburg-Hau, Germany, "Say It with Flowers: Flowers and Artificial Nature since the 1960s"
Group show, Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen, Germany, "Möglichkeit Mensch"
Screening of "Lagoglyph Animation", SP_Urban Festival, São Paulo
Group show, Waterfall Gallery, New York, "The Need for My Care"
Publication of the artist's book Space Poetry by Kac Studio, Chicago, and book launch at Librairie Michèle Ignazi, Paris
Publication of the book Biopoetry by Editions AcquAvivA, Berlin, and book launch at La Plaque Tournante, Berlin
Release of the vinyl record Pornéia by Alga Marghen, Milano
Publication of the Italian edition of the book Telepresence and Bio Art (Telepresenza e bioarte. Interconnessioni in rete fra umani, conigli e robot, Clueb,
Bologna)12/19/2020 Chronological Biography
https://www.ekac.org/bio2pg.html 4/4
2017 First artwork made in outer space: Inner Telescope; in cooperation with astronaut Thomas Pesquet, European Space Agency (ESA). Kac's Inner Telescope
was coordinated by the L'Observatoire de l'Espace, the cultural lab of the French Space Agency.
World premiere of Inner Telescope, Kac’s space poetry work, at Festival Sidération, Centre National d'Études Spatiales – CNES, Paris
Full-page article in the New York Times about Inner Telescope
Publication of Kac's artist's book ISS#71904 by CNES, Paris, and book launch at Printed Matter, New York
Solo Exhibition, Galerie Charlot, Paris, Inner Telescope
Publication of Kac's artist's book Télescope intérieur by Atelier Marie-Sol Parant, France
Solo Exhibition, Luciana Caravello Arte Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro, Telescópio Interior
Group show, Electronic Superhighway, Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT), Lisbon
Group show, Pacific Standard Time Festival (Getty Foundation), Hoehn Family Galleries at the University of San Diego, San Diego, "Copyart:
Experimental Printmaking 1970-1990"
Publication of Video Data Bank's boxed set "Eduardo Kac: Telepresence, Bio Art & Poetry [1980-2010], with booklet and three DVDs
2018 Screening at Louvre Museum, Paris, "Télescope intérieur: une œuvre spatiale d'Eduardo Kac", a documentary by Virgile Novarina
Solo show at Galerie Charlot, Tel Aviv, "Inner Telescope"
Solo show at Furtherfields, London, “Poetry for Animals, Machines and Aliens: The Art of Eduardo Kac”
Solo show at Horse Hospital, London, "… and the bunny goes POP!"
Solo show at Sector 2337, Chicago, "Inner Telescope"
Solo show at DAM Gallery, Berlin, "Inner Telescope"
Commission: Lagoogleglyph III at Finsbury Park, London
Group show at Les Abattoirs, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Toulouse, France, "Gravité Zéro"
Group show at MAXXI Museum, Rome, "Rome Media Art Festival"
Commission: Lagoogleglyph IV at Apollonia, Strasbourg, France
Group show at Museum of Contemporary Art, São Paulo, "Paradoxo(s)"
Group show at ZKM, Karlsruhe, "Art in Motion. 100 Masterpieces with and through Media"
Three artworks enter the permanent collection of the Tate, London
Inner Telescope enters the permanent collection of FRAC Occitanie
2019 Group show at New Museum, New York, "The Art Happens Here: Net Art's Archival Poetics"
Solo show at Galerie Charlot, Paris, "GFP Bunny"
Group show at Pompidou Center, Paris, "La fabrique du vivant"
Group show at Es Baluard - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Palma, Spain, "Faces"
Solo show at Henrique Faria Fine Art, New York, "Inner Telescope"
One artwork enters the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art—MoMA
Group show at Chronus Art Center, Shanghai, "Growing"
Group show at Kunsttempel Gallery, Kassel, "Poesis. Language Art"
Group show at Museum of Modern Art—MoMA, New York (newly reinstalled collection galleries)
Group show at Lieu d’Art et Action Contemporaine—LAAC, Dunkerque, France
2020 Solo show at Galeria Leme, São Paulo (in collaboration with Luciana Caravello Arte Contemporânea)
Online commission, Casa del Lago, Mexico City, "Lagoogleglyph HS"
Group show at CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, "Art in Motion: 100 Masterpieces With and Through Media"
Group show at Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee, WI, "The Trajectory Series"
Group show at Shiva Gallery, New York, "Against, Again"
Screening at Parkway Theatre, Baltimore
Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa, "Message From Our Planet. Digital Art from the Thoma Foundation"
Glazen Huis, Amstelpark, Amsterdam, "Moon Gallery Garden"
Many grants, awards and residencies including Creative Capital (New York), ArtsLink (New York), Illinois Arts Council (Chicago), The Daniel Langlois
Foundation (Montreal), Leonardo Award for Excellence (San Francisco), InterCommunication Center Biennale '99 Award (Tokyo), Greenwall Foundation
(New York), ARCO/BEEP Acquisition Award (Madrid), Le Ministère de la culture (Paris), Le Fresnoy (France), Erasmus Mundus (European Union),
‘Visualise’ public art programme, Cambridge, UK, French Space Agency, Paris, Maison Malina (OLATS/Fondation Carrasso), Paris.
Lectures and publishes worldwide.