Sandra Monterroso (born 1974) is a Guatemalan visual artist and designer. Art historian Virginia Pérez-Ratton writes about Monterroso's beginnings as a performance artist in Guatemala during 1999 and 2000. Alongside her were other Guatemalan female performers like Regina José Galindo, Maria Adela Díaz, and Jessica Lagunas. Recently Monterroso's work focuses not only in performance art. She works with different media such as video art, installations and mixed media. Her work is related to power structures, gender issues[1] and decolonial thinking.[2] Her work is also included in the Artist Pension Trust.[3]

Education edit

Monterroso studied Graphic Design at an undergraduate level at the Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala. She holds a Masters in Design Processes from Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP). She is currently pursuing a PhD in Practice from The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.[4]

Career edit

Select video art edit

Year Video Location Comments
2014 La devolución del Penacho de Vucub Caquix. The devolution of the Vucub Caquix Guatemala The artist is standing with closed eyes inside a clear acrylic parallelepiped, inside has many black feathers, she's caught under the impossible to get out, her body is stained black, while the transparent becomes opaque. In that opacity is the border of truths. The action is based on Moctezuma's Penacho found in Vienna, and it is unclear whether in fact the origin and why is it still belongs to this European city.

Select performances edit

Year Performance Location Comments
2008 Rakoc Atin (Do Justice) Supreme Court of Justice, Guatemala City Using salt, the artist shapes the letters 'RAKOC ATIN' (Do justice in Maya Q'eqchi' language) in the floor in front of the Supreme Court. She then injects serum into the letters, slowly dissolving them. It speaks about cases that have gone unsolved in Guatemala due to language barriers.
1998 Phoenix Bird Guatemala The video is built on the myth, a woman's body goes ash covers the public space to spread feathers.

Exhibitions edit

Solo exhibitions edit

In 2011, Ernesto Calvo curated Monterroso's solo exhibition, Efectos Cruzados, in Galería Piegatto in Guatemala City.[5] The exhibit was later on shown at El Museo de Arte San Salvador (MARTE) in 2013.[6][7] In February 2014, the artist opened her solo show, Actions to Abolish the Desire at the 9.99 Gallery.[8][9]

Group exhibitions edit

In May 2009, Rosina Cazali and Joanne Bernstein presented Performing Localities, a series of lectures and videos on post-war Guatemalan artists including Monterroso at InIVA.[10][11] On June 17, 2009, Monterroso joined other female artists from Guatemala and Bolivia for an event called Feminist Art-Action: Panorama of feminist contemporary Latin-American video-performance, which was held at the Centre Georges Pompidou and organized by le peuple qui manque.[12]

In January 2014, Ciudad de la Imaginación, a contemporary art space in the western highlands of Guatemala, invited Monterroso to participate in the Estados de Excepción exhibition that traveled to Arte Actual in Quito, Ecuador.[13][14] In 2014, Monterroso participated as a part of the Indigenous Voices project in the Montevideo Biennial: 500 Future Years, curated by Alfons Hug.[15][16][17] In 2015 Monterroso has been invited to participate in the Latin American Pavilion for the 56th Venice Biennale and in the 12th Havana Biennial.[18]

Awards and recognitions edit

Bibliography edit

  • Perez-Ratton, Virginia. "Central American Women Artist in a Global Age." Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art. Ed. Maura Reilly and Linda Nochlin. 1st ed. Brooklyn: Merrell, 2007. 123-42. Print.[21]

References edit

  1. ^ Pérez-Ratton, Virginia (November 14, 2013). Del estrecho dudoso a un Caribe invisible. Spain: Publicacions Universitat de Valencia. ISBN 978-8437090801.
  2. ^ http://fusemagazine.org/2013/11/36-4_cornejo. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ "Sandra Monterroso". Artist Pension Trust. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  4. ^ Monterroso, Sandra. "Black River". PHD in Practice: Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Catálogo Efectos Cruzados" (PDF). Universidad Rafael Landivar. Piegatto. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Museo de Arte de El Salvador (MARTE)". ArteSur.org. Artesur. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  7. ^ Monterrosa, Lissette (January 16, 2013). "Efectos Cruzados llega al Marte esta noche". No. online. ElSalvador.com. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  8. ^ Mendizabal, Ana Lucía (February 6, 2014). "Sandra Monterroso exhibe en 9.99". No. web. Siglo 21. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  9. ^ Elias, Angel (February 19, 2014). "Una muestra para abolir el deseo". No. web. Presa Libre. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Performing Localities: Recent Guatemalan Performance Art on Video". InIVA. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Performing Localities: Recent Guatemalan Performance Art on Video at Iniva at Rivington Place". Art Daily. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Feminist Art Action". paris-art.com. Paris Art. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Estalla el régimen del arte". No. Print. La Hora. La Hora - Revista Artes. January 19, 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Estados de excepción: más repetición que diferencia". No. web. El Telégrafo. January 20, 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  15. ^ "BIENAL DE MONTEVIDEO". dressmix.com.uy. Dress Mix. 2014-09-22. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  16. ^ "Los futuros reales de Lucía Madriz". No. web. Nación. September 14, 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Bienal Montevideo 2014: listado de artistas participantes". No. web. Leedor. August 22, 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  18. ^ "12th Havana Biennale announces list of participating artists". Arcthemagazine.com. ARC Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Juannio 2012". ISSUU - Juannio Catalogo 2012. Juannio. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  20. ^ "Juannio 2011". ISSUU - Juannio Catalogo 2011. Juannio. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  21. ^ Maura, Reilly; Linda, Nochlin (March 1, 2007). Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art (1st ed.). Brooklyn: Merrell Publishers. p. 130. ISBN 978-1858943909.

External links edit