Jose Dávila was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1974. For over a decade, Dávila’s practice has explored spatial occupation and the transitory nature of physical structures. Drawing on his formal training as an architect, Dávila creates sculptural installations and photographic works that simultaneously emulate, critique, and pay homage to 20th century avant-garde art and architecture. Referencing artists and architects from Luis Barragán and Mathias Goeritz to Donald Judd, Dávila’s work investigates how the modernist movement has been translated, appropriated, and reinvented.

Dávila’s work is in the permanent collection of numerous institutions including, the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Mexico City, Mexico; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; Inhotim, Brumadinho, Brazil; Albright-Knox Museum, Buffalo, New York; the Zabludowicz Collection, London, Great Britain; and the Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg. Dávila was the winner of the 2014 EFG ArtNexus Latin America Art Award, has been the recipient of support from the Andy Warhol Foundation, a Kunstwerke residency in Berlin, and the National Grant for young artists by the Mexican Arts Council (FONCA) in 2000. The Getty Foundation has recently awarded the Los Angeles Nomadic Division a grant to develop a mid-career survey of Dávila’s work.


Jose Dávila lives and works in Guadalajara, Mexico.