Fernanda Laguna: As Everybody

OVERVIEW

Fernanda Laguna: As Everybody is a survey of work by Argentinian multimedia artist Fernanda Laguna (b. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1972) investigating her aesthetic (which draws on Surrealist legacies) and feminist activism. As Everybody, Laguna’s first solo exhibition in the U.S., will weave together various facets of Laguna’s practice as a visual artist, a curator of alternative art spaces, a novelist and poet, and an activist, including:

• More than 50 paintings from the last decade that display the range of styles in which Laguna works; 
• An installation of Mareadas en la marea (High on the Tide), a living archive of memorabilia from protests organized by Ni Una Menos (Not One Woman Less), a grassroots feminist movement in South America, in opposition to violence against women. The work is co-curated by Laguna and academic and activist Cecilia Palmeiro; and
• A newspaper produced by the artist in collaboration with the community of Villa Fiorito, Argentina, where the artist’s workshops and projects have benefited local children and women.

As part of Public Study, the ICA at VCU will facilitate dialogue and exchange between women’s rights activists across the Americas. “High on the Tide (Mareadas en la Marea),” inspired by the installation of the same name, will take the form of live Zoom discussions and published resources beginning in August. Topics will include: how to organize a feminist strike, the parody men’s magazine Nacho, and the connections between Ni Una Menos (Not One Woman Less) and international activism.

ABOUT FERNANDA LAGUNA

Laguna, celebrated for her co-organization of the now legendary collective literary and art space Belleza y Felicidad (Beauty and Happiness), has work in the collections of the Guggenheim, LACMA, and the Reina Sofía among other museums. Her translated writings include Belleza y Felicidad — Selected Writings: Fernanda Laguna & Cecilia Pavón (Sand Paper Press, 2015) and, under Laguna’s pseudonym Dalia Rosetti, Dreams and Nightmares (Larb, 2016) and El fuego entre nosotras (Random House, 2020, untranslated) which is about a rebellion by domestic servants in the art world.