Regina José Galindo

The retrospective “Piel de gallina” pretends to accomplish an extensive analytical exploration of her work, from her beginnings as a poet until her consolidation within performance art. In 1999, Galindo decided to stop using paper as support and start working in a more direct way with her body, with which she is able to express more explicitly the symbolism she applies in her works. Extreme public actions, situations at the edge of physical limits, were the letter of introduction from the moment when, with Lo voy a gritar al viento, hanging from a bridge, she began to distribute her poems in an act of strength.

Her public exercises are also a form of denunciation: a criticism of a militarized society with violent roots or continuous statements on the defense of women. She wants her body to be the channel for the expression of the rest of the bodies which, out of fear or by imposition, are not able to express themselves. The itinerary allows us to meet with the Regina that dominates words and the time of her transition from paper to skin, but also with the one who allows her body to be abducted by the impulses of the more disadvantaged communities. We bump into the limits of physical resistance; we are faced with the death of each individual symbolyzing everybody’s death. Also with the concept of “transmission” and with the game of agents exchanging roles, symbolized by Piel de gallina, where the artist remained in a refrigerator during the inaugural ceremony, an action which was filmed and remained on exhibit as one more work in a show in which every moment was a point giving rise to a fascinating tour.