Chronological Biography
| 1962 | Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 1980 | Creates a performance group focused on public interventions and performs regularly on beaches, squares, theaters, television |
| 1982 | Conclusion of performance series on Ipanema beach Experiments with multiple media and processes, including graffiti, photography, visual poetry, artist's book, rubber stamps, photocopiers, clothing, billboards |
| 1983 | Invention of Holopoetry; creation of first holopoem Publication of artist's book "Escracho" |
| 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 First microchip implant tracked online: "Time Capsule" is presented live on televison, as a webcast, and at Casa das Rosas, a cultural center in São Paulo. The international press debates its social and cultural implications. |
| 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 in the international press. "Uirapuru" premieres at ICC Biennial, InterCommunication Center, Tokyo, and on the Internet |
| 2000 | Alba, the green fluorescent rabbit, is born in Jouy-en-Josas, France, as part of the work "GFP Bunny" "GFP Bunny" presented publicly at Grenier à Sel, in Avignon, in the context of the Avignon Numerique festival Front page article on "GFP Bunny" in the "Boston Globe" starts international press chain reaction and provokes global debates on the social presence of genetically engineered organisms and their cultural implications. "Genesis" is shown at Itau Cultural Center, São Paulo Fellowship (Phase I) at Institute for Studies in the Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe, to develop "The Eighth Day" "Genesis" is shown at Exit Art, New York The book "Eduardo Kac: Telepresence, Biotelematics, Transgenic Art" is published. |
| 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) Lieu Unique, "L'Art Biotech", Nantes, France ("Free Alba!" photographs,, "Transcription Jewels", "The Eighth Day" video", "Free Alba!" posters) Public art commission for the University of Minnesota, MN The book "The Eighth Day: The Transgenic Art of Eduardo Kac" is published |
| 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] "Specimen of Secrecy about Marvelous Discoveries" : solo show at Fringe Exhibitions, Los Angeles Solo show at ARCO 2007 with Laura Marsiaj Gallery Kac's book "Hodibis Potax," collecting Kac's experimental poetry, is published by Action Poétique (France) and Kibla (Slovenia) in English and French Kac's book "Signs of Life: Bio Art and Beyond", is published by MIT Press Kac's book "Media Poetry: an International Anthology" (2nd edition; 1st edition 1996), is published by Intellect, Bristol, UK Kac's book "Life Extreme," in collaboration with Avital Ronell, is published by Dis Voir, Paris, as separate English and French editions The monograph "L'art à l'ère des biotechnologies: La question du vivant dans l'art transgénique d'Eduardo Kac" [Art in the Biotech Age: The Transgenic Art of Eduardo Kac], by Mathieu Noury, is published by Le Manuscrit, Paris. |
| Many grants and awards 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) |
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| Lectures and publishes worldwide. |