Paul B. Preciado, a philosopher and curator born in 1970 in Burgos, Spain, approaches the body as a site of political and pharmacological intervention. His scholarship and creative projects challenge established paradigms of gender and sexuality by examining how technologies, from architecture to biochemical substances, construct the modern human subject and define individual identity.
Academic Formation and Early Theory
Preciado pursued graduate studies in the United States, earning an MA in Philosophy at The New School on a Fulbright scholarship, where he was mentored by Jacques Derrida and Agnes Heller. He later completed his PhD in Philosophy and Theory of Architecture at Princeton University. His 2010 dissertation, titled Pornotopia: Architecture and Sexuality in Playboy During the Cold War, explored the intersection of domestic space and erotic media, a study later recognized with the Prix Sade in France.
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In his seminal 2008 work, Testo Junkie, Preciado analyzed what he coined the pharmacopornographic era. Documenting his own experience with medically supervised testosterone, he argued that gender is not an essential state but a product of technological and biochemical management. He positioned this process as a political performance, contrasting his lived experience against the medicalized labels that historically pathologized transgender identities.
Institutional Curatorship and Film
Preciado has held significant institutional roles, serving as the director of the Independent Studies Program at MACBA in Barcelona and as Curator of Public Programs for documenta 14 in Kassel and Athens. In 2023, he transitioned into directing with the documentary Orlando, My Political Biography. The film, which explores trans identity through a literary lens, premiered at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival and received the Teddy Award for best documentary.
Critical Encounters with Psychoanalysis
In 2019, Preciado delivered a speech to the École de la Cause Freudienne in which he criticized the field of psychoanalysis for its reliance on heteronormative binary models. He challenged the audience by framing his identity as a trans man within the historical context of scientific pathologization. He advocated for a shift away from twentieth-century categorizations, arguing that the binary view of human biology is an outdated paradigm rather than an immutable reality.
Fast facts
- Born: 1970, Burgos, Spain
- Education: Princeton University, The New School
- Notable Work: Testo Junkie (2008)
- Documentary: Orlando, My Political Biography (2023)
- Key Academic Focus: Pharmacopornographic capitalism
- Awards: Teddy Award (2023), Joan B. Cendrós International Award (2019)
- Former Curator: MACBA Barcelona, documenta 14
Questions readers ask
What is the pharmacopornographic era?
It is a concept developed by Preciado to describe a historical period in which the body is governed and transformed by the intersection of pharmaceutical industry and image-production technologies.
What was the significance of the 2019 speech to the École de la Cause Freudienne?
Preciado used the platform to challenge psychoanalytic institutions to abandon their binary definitions of gender and recognize the limitations of historical pathologization.
Achievements
- Notable work: Testo Junkie
- Held posts at Libération, Paris 8 University and MACBA Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
- Fields: gender, sexual identity and pornography
