VICTORIA CABEZAS AND PRISCILLA MONGE AT THE AMERICAS SOCIETY
On February 13th, the Americas Society presents Victoria Cabezas and Priscilla Monge: Give Me What You Ask For. Under Miguel A. López curatorship, it is the first time that the artworks of these two Costa Rican artists of different generations -Victoria Cabezas (1950) and Priscilla Monge (1968) - meet in the same space to establish a dialogue about the feminine role in contemporary art.
Made around sexuality and gender as thematic axes, the exhibition explores the ways in which both artists have broken the traditions and solid structures of painting, sculpture and even other disciplines. Thus, using this gesture as a subversion over patriarchy structures. “This exhibition, carefully organized by the Peruvian critic Miguel López and produced in close collaboration with TEOR/éTica, a solid and pioneering contemporary art organization in Central America, captures the essence of two artists’ experimental proposals that have mapped the Costa Rican context from their distinctive perspectives of the body”, stated Gabriela Rangel, director and chief curator of Visual Arts at Americas Society.
According to the curator, the exhibition aims to illustrate, through the career of Cabezas and Monge, the evolution in art criticism over the past four decades. López added, " It also helps us recognize genealogies that show that women were, to a large extent, the catalysts for change in terms of the boundaries of the region’s contemporary art.""
Victoria Cabezas and Priscilla Monge: Give Me What You Ask For addresses specific periods of the career of each of the artists. In the case of Cabezas, Miguel López selected the productions that the artist made throughout the 70s and the 80s. En el bosque I (In the forest I, 1973) or El banano emplumado (The feathered banana ,1973) and the series Mujeres, gatos y televisores (Women, cats, and televisions, 1983) are some of the works that will be exhibited. This period of Victoria Cabezas places special emphasis on economic interventionism within the Central American countries and its impact on popular culture and national identity.
On the other hand, the works of Priscilla Monge question the inheritances of gender and its consequences in the construction of social spaces and relations. Focused on the productions of Monge during the late 90s and early 2000s, the exhibition at the Americas Society presents works such as Overol (1996), Pelota de fútbol (Soccer ball, 1997) and Bloody Day (1998). Regarding the exhibition, Monge highlighted the importance of taking into account that "during the 90's most of the cultural initiatives in Central America were being led by women and also a great part of the artistic production of the time was carried out by women". She also stressed the fact this process is being “acknowledged by significant institutions, like Americas Society and others, by presenting, showing and learning about and from relevant works made by artists outside the mainstream.”
Victoria Cabezas and Priscilla Monge: Give Me What You Ask For inaugurates on the 13th of this month in the gallery of the Americas Society (680 Park Avenue New York, NY) with a conference attended by Miguel López, Victoria Cabezas and Priscila Mongue. The exhibition will be in the room until May 4th.
