MARILYN BOROR BOR NOMINATED FOR THE EFG LATIN AMERICA ART AWARD

The artwork was selected at the Ch.ACO fair with the collaboration of Dermis Pérez León, independent curator, along with Celia Sredni de Birbragher, director and editor of ArtNexus. Ancestra VIII, from the series The Future That Never Was by Maya-Kaqchikel artist (Guatemala) Marilyn Boror Bor, presents a pictorial proposal involving a process of covering and revealing the subject as a political and denunciatory action, but also as an act of empowerment for Indigenous women.

The subject of the painting is covered by a layer of cement, a material that directly references the cement factory installed in San Juan Sacatepéquez. This gray cement layer is destroyed by the artist through hammer blows in a performative action that reveals the women portrayed underneath.

In this part of the series The Future That Never Was, Boror Bor developed the work in Chile, identifying with the clothing and ornaments worn by Mapuche women — a gesture that connects the anti-colonial and feminist struggles of her homeland with the issues faced in Chile. Specifically, the selected artwork references Millaray Huentecura, whose image was captured during the March for Resistance on October 14, 2018, in Santiago, Chile, and photographed by Martín Benetti. The cement coating was applied by a collective in collaboration with the artist, while the performative action was carried out with the participation of Norma Hueche, as noted by Dermis Pérez León.

Now in its fifteenth year, the EFG Latin America Art Award was created to support the work of Latin American artists whose pieces are pre-selected by a jury at contemporary art fairs throughout Latin America over the course of the year. The award aims to promote the visual arts production of the region and raise the international profile of regional art fairs among collectors worldwide, through the strategic development of Liaisons.

This year, the fairs where pre-selection will take place are: SP Arte (São Paulo); Pinta Lima (Lima); arteba (Buenos Aires); Ch.ACO (Santiago de Chile); and ArtBo (Bogotá).

As in previous years, once the nominees are selected at the participating Latin American art fairs, the acquisition will be announced at Pinta Miami during Art Basel week. EFG Capital will acquire a representative artwork by the winning artist. The complete EFG Latin America Art Award collection is permanently exhibited at EFG Capital's offices in Miami.

*Cover image: Marilyn Boror Bor. The future that never was, 2023. (Photo: Sergio Muñoz for Fundación Paiz)