Chronological Biography
| 1962 | Birth |
| 1980 | Creates a performance group focused on public interventions and performs regularly on beaches, squares, theaters, television. |
| 1981 | Begins to wear a pink mini-skirt both to carry out daily chores and in performances. |
| 1982 | Conclusion of performance series with intervention and demonstration on Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. 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". |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2010 | "Lagoglyphs, Biotopes and Transgenic Works", solo show curated by Christiane Paul, Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro |
| 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). |
| 2013 | Solo show at Black Box Gallery, Copenhagen (New Works). |
| 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. | |
| Lectures and publishes worldwide. |