Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo)
Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo (b. 1989, US, lives and works in New York), known as Puppies Puppies, expands the concept of the readymade by imbuing everyday objects and actions with personal and political charge. Through sculpture, installations and performance, she challenges ableist frameworks of artistic and capitalist productions, and her exhibitions often include actionable elements like a GoFundMe for a friend’s transition, free HIV testing and counseling. Kuriki-Olivo shows that life itself can be a form of endurance practice, especially for those whose very survival is at stake, including trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people of color.
(Biography written by Vivien Crockett at the New Museum, New York.)
Puppies Puppies graduated with a BA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2010 and a MFA from Yale University in 2014. Her work has been included in shows at: the New Museum, New York; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein; Art Basel Parcours, Basel; MoCA Cleveland; Fondazione Prada, Venice; Kunsthaus Glarus; Remai Modern, Saskatoon; the 60th Venice Biennale; 8th Yokohama Triennale; 9th Berlin Biennale; 78th Whitney Biennial.
Executive Order 9066 (Soul Consoling Tower)
2019
Installation, dimensions variable, read more here
Courtesy of the artist
The installation addresses the legacy of Executive Order 9066, an order issued in 1942 by the president of the Unites States, which led to the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Within this historical context, the Soul Consoling Tower – built by internees in 1943 as a tribute to the dead of Manzanar’s Relocation Centre – emerges as a monument of grief, resilience, and remembrance.
The struggle to preserve memory continues at Tule Lake, where the largest of the ten segregation centres for Japanese Americans was located. There acts of resistance were met with increased surveillance and punishments. Activists today fight against efforts to limit access to this historical site, underscoring the fragility of spaces like Tule Lake and Manzanar, places that echo the injustices of the past and demand reflection in the present, ensuring that history is neither forgotten nor dismissed.
Trans Cross
2025
Wood, paint, taxidermied pidgeon, 330cm × 185cm × 17cm
This site-specific work is tied to the mythology surrounding the founding of Gothenburg. According to a record from 1908, King Gustav II Adolf was searching for a suitable location to establish a city when a dove, fleeing from an eagle, landed at his feet seeking refuge. The king interpreted this as a divine sign and declared: “Here shall the city lie!”, leading to the city’s founding in 1621. The work leaves out the character most often depicted in connection to the myth, the king, and casts as protagonist the dove.
Beyond its local connection, the work speaks to the global reality of trans existence, particularly in the United States, where trans lives are increasingly politicized and vilified. Trans people are being framed not merely as outsiders, but as threats to societal norms. This rhetoric has real consequences: recent federal and state-level policies have stripped away essential rights, including access to gender-affirming healthcare for minors, legal recognition of gender identity on official documents, and protections against discrimination in schools, workplaces, and public life. The artist brings forward the image of the cross as both a memorial and a gesture of defiance, reclaiming space for trans bodies and narratives through art, spirituality, and resistance.