Cuauhtémoc Medina is a critic, curator and art historian, with a Doctor in History and Theory of Art (PhD) from the University of Essex, UK, and a degree in History from Universidad Autónoma de México. He is a research fellow at Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Chief Curator of the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) at U.N.A.M. in Mexico City. Between 2002 and 2008 he was the Tate Modern’s first Associate Curator of Latin American Art for collections.

In 2012, Medina was Head Curator of the Manifesta 9 Biennial in Genk, Belgium, titled The Deep of the Modern,  in association with Katerina Gregos and Dawn Ades. In 2018 he was chief curator of the 12th Shanghai Biennial titled. “Proregress. Art in the age of historical ambivalence” at the Power Station of Art. In 2012 he became the sixth recipient of the Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Achievement of the Menil Foundation. Medina has also curated events and exhibitions like Cuando la fe mueve montañas de Francis Alÿs (Lima, Peru, 2001), 20 Million Mexicans Can’t Be Wrong (South London Gallery, 2002), and La era de la discrepancia. Arte y Cultura Visual en México (1968-1997) (co-curated with Olivier Debroise, Pilar García & Alvaro Vazquez, 2007-2008). In 2009 he curated ¿De qué otra cosa podríamos hablar? The project Teresa Margolles presented at the Mexican Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. He has also organized Dominó Caníbal, a year-long exhibition for PAC Murcia, Spain, in 2010.

Among many publications he has recently published a collection of his essays on Mexican art titled: Abuso Mutuo (Mutual Abuse), RM and Cubo Blanco, 2017 and the book Olinka: El sueño del Dr. Atl  in 2019. Other publications include: Francis Alÿs (Phaidon, 2007), “ ‘The 21st century has just begun’… beyond the poetic and political divide”, in: Out of the studio! (Hasselt, Z33 Art Centre, 2008) and “Hacia una nueva anarquitectura”, in: Taiyana Pimentel, coord. Tercerunquinto. Investiduras institucionales (INBA-Conaculta, 2009). Medina writes “Ojo Breve”, a fortnightly column for the newspaper Reforma in Mexico City.