Manuela Morales Délano
b. Talcahuano, Chile, 1986Lives and works in Basel, Switzerland
Délano's practice spans various media, often resulting in site-specific installations that address the economic and social impact of colonial legacies. Her works often include abstract accounts of wealth accumulation, dominance, and devotion. This allows her to connect with specific contexts and geographies that she reconstructs and fictionalizes to create tensions between imposed narratives, vernacular legends, and history. Délano is a deft constructor of hi/stories, often applying the aesthetics of absurdity and camp to address these complicated relationships.
A second institutional acquisition will be announced this spring. She has participated in institutional exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel (Basel, CH); Kunsthaus Baselland (Basel, CH); Museum Tinguely (Basel, CH); Museo Solidaridad Salvador Allende (Santiago, CL); and Kunsthalle Palazzo (Liestal, CH).
Her first solo exhibition with the gallery opens 24. May 2025. She has participated in group exhibitions at City SALTS (Basel, CH); Espace Arlaud (Lausanne, CH); Mileu (Bern, CH); Last Tango (Zurich, CH); la_cápsula (Zurich, CH); Kunstverein SALTS (Birsfelden, CH); Kunst Raum Riehen (Riehen, CH).
Education
2022 MA Institute Art Gender and Natur, Basel, CH2010 Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, CL
Public Collections
• Basel Stadt, Basel, CH
Select Solo & Two-Person Exhibitions
2025 (forthcoming) Kendra Jayne Patrick, Bern, CH2024 Gracias, thank you, Lokal-Int, together with Charles Benjamin, Biel, CH
• Aquí no hay nada pasando, Zabriskie Point, curated by Limbo, Geneva, CH
2023 Twenty-First Century Occupational Adjustments and Considerations, Episode 7: Do You Care Too Much?, with Robyn Tsinnajinnie. Kendra Jayne Patrick, Bern, CH
2022
Zapatería Zapatista, Oreilles Internaxionales, Basel, CH2021 Paula, Pasta, Puno, Piedra, with Sergio Rojas at Villa Wenkenhof, curated by Samuel Leuenberger, Basel, CH
Select Group Exhibitions
2024 Regionale 25, Kunsthaus Baselland, Kunst Raum Riehen, Kunsthalle Basel, Kunsthalle Palazzo; all Basel, CH
• Gradients of the Grotesque: A Stampede of Crocs, Buffalos and Gazelles, Last Tango, Zurich, CH
• To be with our Mountain Eyes, la_cápsula, Zurich, CH
• Gradients of the Grotesque: A Stampede of Crocs, Buffalos and Gazelles, Last Tango, Zurich, CH
• To be with our Mountain Eyes, la_cápsula, Zurich, CH
• Zahltag, Spielact 6. Le Commun, Genéve, CH
2023 P23, Espace Arlaud Lausanne, CH
• Chasing Rabbits, Studio Merz curated by Isabela Manel, Berlin, DE
• Chasing Rabbits, Studio Merz curated by Isabela Manel, Berlin, DE
2022
Too many wonderful people not enough bikes, together with Charles Benjamin. Mario Kreuzberg (City Salts) Basel, CH
• Peace or Never, curated by Chus Martinez and Fernanda Brennen, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel, CH
• Casa Tomada (House taken over), curated by Violeta Burckhardt and Andreas Wagner, Milieu, Bern, CH
• Fedora, Basel, CH
• Commercial Show, Oreilles Internaxionales, Basel, CH
• Casa Tomada (House taken over), curated by Violeta Burckhardt and Andreas Wagner, Milieu, Bern, CH
• Fedora, Basel, CH
• Commercial Show, Oreilles Internaxionales, Basel, CH
2021
Die Anderen - Spuren des Kolonialismus. Kasko, Basel, CH
• Arreglando el Pais - Chilean Conexion. Curated by Santiago Macauliffe, Berlin, DE
• Taco Estaca for Real Life Shoes, curated by Jeronim Horvat, Group Show at Atelierhaus Klingental, Basel, CH
• Inklusiv Arlesheim, Basel, CH
• Paula, Pasta, Puno, Piedra, Villa Wenkenhof, curated by Samuel Leuenberger, Basel, CH
• Why do you invite me when you know how I get, together with Charles Benjamin and curated by Cassidy Toner for Rheum Room Basel, CH
• Taco Estaca for Real Life Shoes, curated by Jeronim Horvat, Group Show at Atelierhaus Klingental, Basel, CH
• Inklusiv Arlesheim, Basel, CH
• Paula, Pasta, Puno, Piedra, Villa Wenkenhof, curated by Samuel Leuenberger, Basel, CH
• Why do you invite me when you know how I get, together with Charles Benjamin and curated by Cassidy Toner for Rheum Room Basel, CH
2020
Casa Chilena, curated by Pablo Brugnoli, Francisco Díaz y Amarí Peliowski, Centro Cultural La Moneda Santiago, CL
2019 Carta a los corazónes Indómitos, Gallery Mario Kreuzberg, Berlin, DE
• White Marriage, Gallery Mario Kreuzberg, Berlin, DE
2018 Damas, Espacio Falso, Santiago, CL
2017 Memories of a neighborhood / ZKU, Berlin, DE
2015 My Game is Fair Game, Mommsen35, Berlin, DE
2014 Selección Española, Museo Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago, CL
2014 - 2016 Espacio Falso, Santiago, CL
2019 Carta a los corazónes Indómitos, Gallery Mario Kreuzberg, Berlin, DE
• White Marriage, Gallery Mario Kreuzberg, Berlin, DE
2018 Damas, Espacio Falso, Santiago, CL
2017 Memories of a neighborhood / ZKU, Berlin, DE
2015 My Game is Fair Game, Mommsen35, Berlin, DE
2014 Selección Española, Museo Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago, CL
Art Fairs
2024 The Salon - an invitational art fair by NADA & The Community, group presentation with Kendra Jayne Patrick, Paris, FRCuratorial Projects
2016 Present Gallery Mario Kreuzberg, Berlin, DE - Basel, CH2014 - 2016 Espacio Falso, Santiago, CL