Sandra Monterroso

SANDRA MONTERROSO
[1974, Guatemala]

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 de Puebla (UPAEP) in Puebla, Mexico. In 2020, Monterroso earned a PhD in Art Practice from the Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien in Vienna, Austria. She has represented Guatemala in more than twelve biennials, including the 56th La Biennale di Venezia, the 12 Bienal de La Habana, and the Frestas - Trienal de Artes in São Paulo. 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. Her influences include Cindy Sherman (USA), Gina Pane (France), Carolee Schneemann (USA), Ana Mendieta (Cuba), and Marina Abramović (Serbia), 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’eqchi’ language as an inheritance from my grandmother, whose linguistic structure is completely metaphorical.” 

2023
Decolorando las Hebras and Colorando las Hebras (video, 2011), Arts of the Ancient Americas Jewel Box Gallery, Denver Art Museum, CO, USA
Sandra Monterroso: The Healing Paradox, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, Houston, TX, USA

2022
Altar para pájaros, Instituto de Visión, New York, NY, USA
Cuerpos Infinitos: Sandra Monterroso, Musiq' / Breath of the spirit, Casa del Lago UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
Cuerpos Infinitos: Sandra Monterroso, Heart of the Windy Place (performance), Casa del Lago UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico

2020
Threads of Memory, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, Houston, TX, USA
Dyed in the wool - the committed poetics of nonconformity, Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, UK
Artwork in Focus - Sandra Monterroso: Tu Ashé Yemanya, Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, UK

2019
Las heridas también se tiñen de azul, Centro Cultural de España, 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, Panama

2017
Inchaq'na / Hermana Mayor, French Alliance, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Distorsiones e imperfecciones, The 9.99 Gallery, Guatemala City, Guatemala

Essex Collection of Latin American Art, London, UK

Fundación Paiz para la Educación y la Cultura, Guatemala City, Guatemala

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain 

Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC), San José, Costa Rica