By
De Benito, Álvaro
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.
August 11, 2025
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.
Enlarge image
-
Priscilla Monge: "Bordados", 2013. (CGAC)
-
Priscilla Monge: Karma revertido,1996. (CGAC)
-
Priscilla Monge. De la serie Es cosa de vida o muerte, 2003. (CGAC)
-
Priscilla Monge. Vista de la sala. (CGAC)
-
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).
Related Topics
May interest you
News
A TECHNOLOGICAL GAZE AT THE PARIETAL ART BY SOFÍA CRESPO
By
De Benito, Álvaro
Sofía Crespo (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1991) often centers her work on the use of biology-inspired technology. In her exploration of the common ground between artificial intelligence and the way it generates images, on the one hand, and human perception of the environment, on the other, there is a turning point in the Argentine artist's practice.
News
PEMJEAN AND HIS RECONSTRUCTION OF SPACE FROM MEMORY AT COAM
By
De Benito, Álvaro
The Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM) is hosting No tan lejos (Not So Far Away), an exhibition by Emilio Pemjean (Santiago, Chile, 1971), which continues to explore his characteristic artistic approach that blends photography, design, architecture, and painting. In this exhibition, the Chilean artist presents a series of imagined and reconstructed spaces, virtually brought back to life through memory, which makes their reconstruction possible.
News
CHAOS AND TECHNOLOGY BY SANTOSCOY, AT THE MUSEUM OF AMERICA
By
De Benito, Álvaro
The Museum of America is hosting an exhibition of paintings by Juan Carlos Santoscoy (Guadalajara, Mexico, 1973) in its La Tapada gallery, open until the end of the month. Titled Algoritmos del caos (Algorithms of Chaos), the show features a selection of the artist’s most recent large-scale works, which engage with pressing themes in contemporary art such as global warming and the overexploitation of natural resources.
News
COCO FUSCO'S ACTIVISM TAKES OVER MACBA
By
De Benito, Álvaro
Barcelona's MACBA presents I Have Learned to Swim on Dry Land, the first monographic exhibition that a Spanish institution dedicates to Cuban-American artist and activist Coco Fusco (New York, USA, 1960). The exhibition, titled after the opening sentence of Virgilio Peña's short story Swimming, offers a journey through several thematic nuclei revolving around words, language, and silence, as well as the semiotics and symbolism entwined with these concepts.
Reviews
MEMORY, PHANTASY AND RESISTANCE IN NAUFUS RAMÍREZ-FIGUEROA
By
De Benito, Álvaro
Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa (Guatemala City, Guatemala, 1978) has long warranted a mid-career exhibition such as the one hosted by the Museo Reina Sofía. His ongoing activity and presence in institutions and performances over recent years have positioned the Guatemalan artist as a key figure in the development and visibility of contemporary Central American art beyond its geographic framework.
August 18, 2025
News
ALBERTO BARAYA, AT MAJORCA’S BIENNAL B
By
De Benito, Álvaro
Alberto Baraya (Bogotá, Colombia, 1968) presents his project Llatina i Mestral (Catalan for Lateen and Mistral)as part of the B Biennial in Majorca. The work begins with a performative action in which the artist paints directly onto a sail while at sea. The sail becomes a canvas that captures both a physical journey and a conceptual one.
