TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary

Asunción Molinos Gordo

Asunción Molinos Gordo is a Spanish conceptual artist whose practice delves into the intricate intersections of agriculture, social structures, and contemporary culture. Born in Aranda de Duero, a small town in Spain’s rural heartland, Molinos Gordo grew up surrounded by the rhythms and realities of agrarian life—an experience that would later become the cornerstone of her artistic inquiry.

Her work challenges dominant narratives about food production, rurality, and development, often exploring the tension between traditional knowledge systems and modern industrial agriculture. Through installations, photography, video, and collaborative projects, she interrogates how power dynamics shape land use, seed sovereignty, and the livelihoods of farming communities across the globe.

Molinos Gordo’s commitment to fieldwork and ethnographic methods has led her to work closely with rural communities in Egypt, Palestine, India, and Spain, often embedding herself in local contexts to co-produce knowledge and art that reflect the voices of those frequently excluded from mainstream discourse. Her 2011 project “WAM (World Agriculture Museum)”—a critical counterpoint to the museological representation of agriculture—marked a pivotal moment in her career, combining satire and institutional critique with sharp socio-political analysis.

Her art has been exhibited internationally, including at the V&A Museum in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Whitechapel Gallery, and she represented Spain at the 13th Havana Biennial. She is also a recipient of the Sharjah Biennial Prize and has participated in residencies such as Delfina Foundation and Casa Árabe.

Asunción Molinos Gordo continues to examine how rural voices can disrupt the urban-centric paradigms of progress, insisting that the future of sustainability, food justice, and cultural memory depends on a radical reappraisal of the rural condition.

You can explore Asunción Molinos Gordo's official website at www.asuncionmolinos.com

Related works in the collection

Asunción Molinos Gordo
100 Trillones, 2014

Asunción Molinos Gordo
Quorum Sensing, 2023

Asunción Molinos Gordo
Sin título (barco carguero), 2016

Asunción Molinos Gordo
Sin título (modelo matemático), 2014

Asunción Molinos Gordo
Sin título (montón de grano), 2014

Asunción Molinos Gordo
Sin Título (montón de polvo), 2014

Asunción Molinos Gordo
Sin Título (Quién es el hambriento), 2014

Asunción Molinos Gordo ¡Cuánto río allá arriba!, 2021

Asunción Molinos Gordo Barruntaremos, 2021

Remedios Directions to the old ways

Remedios Where new land might grow