About

Bio
Geraldo Mercado is an NYC based performance artist, visual artist, and filmmaker originally from Yauco, Puerto Rico. Prolific and Influential in the performance genre, he has created nearly 200 unique performance art pieces since 2012.

In 2013 Geraldo’s short film The Land Scape toured throughout the country as a featured segment during Buran Theatre Company’s Nightmares. In 2014 it was included as part of El Museo Del Barrio’s 40 year retrospective show “MUSEUM STARTER KIT: Open With Care” before becoming part of the permanent collection at Present Company.

His first solo show In The Universes Where I Died was hosted by Animanus Art Salon in 2015. His second solo show …And What Will We Do When We Get There took place in 2016 at cloyingPARLOR. His latest solo exhibition New York City Ghost happened live via Zoom in 2020 as part of Performancy Forum: Corpus Coliseum.

Artist’s Statement
I discovered punk rock and horror movies when I was 13 years old and this had a profound impact on the art that I would eventually create.

I create high energy and physically taxing performance art inspired by the speed and immediacy of the music that I grew up on. Like the best punk rock, my work is socially conscious and radically empathetic while remaining aggressive and confrontational. My performance art takes a physical toll on my body, and often the lead up and aftermath of a difficult piece will weave its way into other aspects of my artistic practice. I’m just as likely to tackle current events during my performances or present a work that is entirely personal, though often I will do both during the same piece. The recent bulk of my performance work since 2016 has aimed to shed light to issues facing Puerto Rico and its people.

My short films and visual art are informed by the horror movies that got me interested in art and storytelling in the first place. While my videos and images have a deliberately creepy and menacing lo-fi horror inspired edge to them, what I borrow most from the genre is the transgressive DIY anti-corporate mentality that my favorite brought to every project. I try to bring this attitude to every visual project I undertake.