![Sandra Monterroso, Vida azul. From the series " Wounds can also be dyed blue.", 2019. Sculpture, yarn dyed with indigo, and Tocoyales [headdresses made of textiles, part of Mayan clothing in western Guatemala]. Assembled in steel., 23 9/16 x 23 9/16 x 15 3/4 in.](https://img.artlogic.net/w_1010,h_580,c_limit/exhibit-e/5ab12bb7a09a72340a8b4568/69ea96c0115dec5dfe0fe4ee45a5a7da.jpeg)
Through The Eye of The Needle
Olga de Amaral, Sandra Monterroso, and Marina Weffort
October 21 – December 18, 2021
Sandra Monterroso in her Guatemala City studio.
Sandra Monterroso in her Guatemala City studio.
Sandra Monterroso in her Guatemala City studio.
Sandra Monterroso, Vida azul. From the series " Wounds can also be dyed blue.", 2019. Sculpture, yarn dyed with indigo, and Tocoyales [headdresses made of textiles, part of Mayan clothing in western Guatemala]. Assembled in steel., 23 9/16 x 23 9/16 x 15 3/4 in.
Sandra Monterroso, Expoliada III. From the series " Wounds can also be dyed blue.", 2016. Yarn dyed with indigo and wood., 70 13/16 x 31 1/2 x 4 11/16 in.
Sandra Monterroso, Tejido 3, 2019. Indigofera guatemalensis, acrylic pigments and resins on paper, 47 3/16 x 47 3/16 in.
Cuarentena composición del día #24, 2020, watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Cuarentena composición del día #25, 2020, watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Cuarentena composición del día #26, 2020, watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Sandra Monterroso, Composición del día #27, 2020. Watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Cuarentena composición del día #32, 2020, watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Cuarentena composición del día #35, 2020, watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Cuarentena composición del día #44, 2020, watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Composición del día #45, 2020. Watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Sandra Monterroso, Composición del día #28, 2020. Watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
Cuarentena composición del día #57, 2020, watercolor, charcoal on paper, 12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.
SANDRA MONTERROSO
[1974, Guatemala City]
Sandra Monterroso began her artistic career in performance art in 1999. She earned a B.A. in Graphic Design in 2001, followed by an M.A. in Design from Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado in Puebla, Mexico. In 2020, Monterroso earned a PhD in Art Practice from the Academy of Arts in Vienna, Austria. She has represented Guatemala in more than twelve biennials, including the 56th Venice Bienale, the 12th Havana Biennial, and the Frestas Art Triennial in Brazil. Monterroso lives and works in Guatemala City.
In her work, Monterroso explores the dynamics of indigenous culture in the postcolonial era, gender issues, and other constructs of power across media including tapestry, painting, video, installation, and performance.
As Isabel Villanueva notes, “With her thought-provoking and beautiful artworks, Monterroso is trying to unravel the threads or knots that the colonial and patriarchal tradition have left in Guatemala's contemporary social fabric.” Her influences include Cindy Sherman (U.S.), Gina Pane (France), Carolee Shneemann (Germany), and Ana Mendieta (Cuba), and Marina Abramović (Yugoslavia), as she explores issues of identity and relational dynamics between genders and cultures.
As Monterroso explains, “Behind the silence and the paradox of modernity and coloniality, I start taking as a symbolic reference more particularly the Mayan q’eq’chi’ language as an inheritance from my grandmother, whose linguistic structure is completely metaphorical.”
2022
Cuerpos Infinitos: Sandra Monterroso, Musiq' / Breathing of the spirit, Casa del Lago UNAM, México City, México
Cuerpos Infinitos: Sandra Monterroso, Heart of the Windy Place (performance), Casa del Lago UNAM, México City, México
2020
Threads of Memory, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino. Houston, TX, USA
Dyed in the wool - the committed poetics of nonconformity, Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, UK
2019
Las heridas también se tiñen de azul, Spanish Cultural Center, Guatemala City, Guatemala
El agua se volvió oro, el río se volvió oro, el oro se volvió azul, Museo ExTeresa, Mexico City, Mexico
2018
Hybris, NG Gallery, Panama City, Panamá
2017
Inchaq'na / Hermana Mayor, French Alliance, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Distorsiones e imperfecciones, The 9.99 Gallery, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2014
Acciones para abolir el deseo, The 9.99 Gallery, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2013
Efectos cruzados, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, San Salvador, El Salvador
2011
Efectos cruzados, Galería Piegatto (Arte La Fábrica), Guatemala City, Guatemala
2009
Meditando el error, Galería de Artes Visuales, Universidad Rafael Landivar, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2008
Rakoc Atin. Palacio de la Corte Suprema de Justicia, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2005
Sucesos Carcomidos, Galería El Attico, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2004
Metabolismo, Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala City, Guatemala
1999
Ave Fénix, Vestíbulo BANCAFÉ, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Essex Collection of Latin American Art, London, UK
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC), San José, Costa Rica
Ortíz Gurdián Foundation, Managua, Nicaragua
Paiz Foundation for Art and Culture, Guatemala City, Guatemala
YAXS Foundation, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Yes Contemporary, Miami, FL, USA
