PRISCILLA MONGE UNLEASHES HER EMANCIPATORY CRY AT THE CGAC
Priscilla Monge (San José, Costa Rica, 1968) arrives at the Galician Center for Contemporary Art (CGAC) with her exhibition Cuestiones de vida o muerte (Matters of Life and Death). This show brings together works from all stages of the Costa Rican artist’s career, establishing her as a key figure in Central American art through her commitment to social critique.
This retrospective not only allows us to trace her artistic journey, but also to do so through a feminist lens focused on the everyday—an approach reinforced by the curatorship of Santiago Olmo. The exhibition highlights her ongoing exploration of relational dynamics in areas of power and the hierarchical nature of conventional structures.
Working across a broad array of media—photography, video, sculpture, installation, and performance—Monge uses irony and humor as subtle tools to expose the violence embedded in daily life. Her narrative is a powerful vehicle for feminist and emancipatory perspectives.
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Priscilla Monge: "Bordados", 2013. (CGAC)
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Priscilla Monge: Karma revertido,1996. (CGAC)
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Priscilla Monge. De la serie Es cosa de vida o muerte, 2003. (CGAC)
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Priscilla Monge. Vista de la sala. (CGAC)
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Priscilla Monge: "Poetry is a matter of Life and Death". Serie "The Artist reveals us mystic truths". (CGAC)
Beyond the oppositional dynamics of inside/outside and private/public, Monge incorporates elements that critique social constructs, making them integral to her practice. Institutions, symbols of authority, and patriarchal structures become direct targets, challenged for the pressure they exert on women and marginalized groups.
In certain works, technique itself functions as metaphor: embroidery, for instance, is used both as a productive method and a symbolic representation of the feminine. In this sense, her textile-based works emphasize texture and the handmade, subtly questioning the distinction between art and craft—while also reflecting on how society perceives and values them differently.
Priscilla Monge. Cuestiones de vida o muerte runs through October 5 at the Galician Center for Contemporary Art, Valle Inclán, 2, Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
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