Ulises Carrión

Ulises Carrión (1941, San Andres Tuxtla, Mexico - 1989, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), considered as "perhaps Mexico’s most important conceptual artist", is widely known for his decisive role in defining and conceptualising the artistic genre artists' book through his manifest The New Art of Making Books (1975). But his alertness and interest in new forms of art and innovative operations implicated that he was active in most of the artistic fields of his time. The activities cover artworks, theory and independent institutional initiatives. This includes not only a great number of bookworks - as he named his artists' books - and unique artworks, but also performances, alongside film, video, and sound works, as well as several edition, publishing, and curating projects, a couple of considerable public projects, and various significant works and initiatives within the international community of mail artists during its most creative period. Equally essential for his artistic career is his engagement in several artists' run spaces. All his artistic activities were reflected by him in highly elaborated theories.

Carrión was born in San Andres Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico in 1941. After studying philosophy and literature at the National University of Mexico, he started with his carrier as a successful and respected young writer. In 1964 he received a grant for further studies at the Sorbonne Paris, France. Short after he went for studies to the Goethe Institute, Achenmühle, Germany, and to Leeds, England, where he studied English language and literature at the University and graduated with a diploma. In 1972 he definitively settled in Amsterdam, an open and cosmopolitan city with a lot of artistic innovation and international exchanges. Here he became co-founder and member of the In-Out Center (1972-1975). In 1975, he founded Other Books and So, the first space of its kind devoted to all kind of artists’ publications, which in 1979 became the Other Books And So Archive. He was also the co-founder of the Vereniging van Videokunstenaars, later Time Based Arts (1983-1993) in Amsterdam, NL. Ulises Carrión died in 1989 in Amsterdam.

• Die Neue Kunst des Büchermachens, Weserburg, Bremen, 1992
• We have Won! Haven't we?, Museum Fodor, Amsterdam, 1992
• ¿Mundos personales o estrategias culturales?, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, 2002
• Ulises Carrión e a sua Livraria, Serralves, Porto, 2010
• Gossip, Scandal and Good Manners: Works by Ulises Carrión, The Showroom, London, 2010
• Dear Reader. Don't Read, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2016

• Seara.com. "Fundação de Serralves - Serralves". Serralves (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2016-03-10. 
• "The Showroom | Gossip, Scandal and Good Manners: Works by Ulises Carrión". www.theshowroom.org. Retrieved 2016-03-10. 
• "Ulises Carrión | Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía". www.museoreinasofia.es. Retrieved 2016-03-10. 

• Carrión Ulises, Ed., From Bookworks to Mailworks, other books and so, Amsterdam, 1978
• Carrión Ulises, Cres, Self-published, Amsterdam, 1978
• Carrión Ulises, The Muxlows, Verlaggalerie Leaman, Düsseldorf, 1978
• Carrión Ulises, Mirror box, Stempelplaats Amsterdam, 1979
• Carrión Ulises, Rubber Stamp Books, Lomholt Formular Press, Odder, 1979
• Carrión Ulises, Namen en adressen, Agora - Studio, Maastricht, 1980
• Carrión Ulises, Second Thoughts, VOID Distributors, Amsterdam, 1980
• Carrión Ulises and Agius Juan J., Ed., Beeld Boeken, Galerie da Costa, Amsterdam, 1980
• Carrión Ulises and Crozier Robin, et al, Kunst in der Öffentlichkeit, Marode Editions, Würzburg, 1981
• Carrión Ulises, The New Art of Making Books. Nicosia : Aegean editions, 2001.