Manuela Morales Délano

b. Talcahuano, Chile, 1986
Lives 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.

She has participated in institutional exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel (Basel, CH); Kunsthaus Baselland (Basel, CH); Museum Tinguely (Basel, CH); he 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts (Ljubliana, SI); Museo Solidaridad Salvador Allende (Santiago, CL); and Kunsthalle Palazzo (Liestal, CH). 

She has had solo exhibitions with Zabriskie Point (Geneva, CH ); Instituto Tele Arte,(Santiago,CL); La Capsule 1 at Halle Nord,(Geneva, CH); Portland, (Zürich, CH); 

She has participated in group exhibitions at Monte Verita Foundation, (Locarno, CH); Villa Bernasconi,(Geneva, CH); Basel Social Club, Monk Contemporary,(Basel, CH); Les Urbaines,( Lausanne, CH); 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). 

Current

Deep Roots, group exhibition, Monte Verita Foundation, Locarno, CH (July 4 - August 22, 2026)

Forthcoming

TBD, solo exhibition, 6pp Stajnia, Wroclaw, PL

Curriculum Vitae

The world in a tree (Attacus atlas), 2025
moths, pins, cotton (royal blue), walnut
40⅛ x 27⅛ x 2¾ in.
102 x 69 x 7 cm

Espantapájaro, green, 2025
pigeon spikes, screws, rock from the Rhine, MDF plinth
75⅝ x 14⅛ x 11¾ in.
192 x 36 x 30 cm


Unos nacen con estrellas otros estrellados, 2025
branches, leather, thread, steel
106¼ x 112¼ x 39⅜ in.
270 x 285 x 100 cm


EU Flag, 2024
Frame, glass, canvas, moths
29¾ x 17⅜ x 1⅛ in.
75.5 x 44 x 3 cm


EU Flag, 2024
Frame, glass, canvas, moths
29¾ x 17⅜ x 1⅛ in.
75.5 x 44 x 3 cm 
(details)


Cruel Nature Has Won Again, 2023
printed in Hahnemühle photo ras baryla
11¾ x 15¾ inches
30.00 x 40.00 cm

Collection Kunstkredit Basel Stadt  (Basel, Switzerland)

Manito de Guagua: Economics of the Clock, (90 minutes), 2023
Bread, salt
78¾ x 78¾ x 2 inches
200 x 200 x 5 cm