Transgresoras: Mail Art and Messages, 1960–2020s

As a mode of artistic production that relied on the postal service for the circulation and exchange of artworks, Mail Art allowed artists in repressive societies to evade strict censorship measures, providing platforms for circulating their work and for political protest. Latinx and Latin American women artists have used the postal system to transgress a varied set of restrictive systems, ranging from gender expectations to authoritarian regimes.

Transgresoras presents historic works—including visual poetry, drawings, prints, performance, video, and photography—in dialogue with the work of a younger generation of artists who employ facets of correspondence in their work. This intergenerational approach brings to the fore overlooked historical precedents to restore a lineage of artistic production that has been little known in ensuing decades, enhancing our perspective on central issues of today’s media and political landscape.

The exhibition is organized around constellations addressing broad thematic groupings such as state control of communications media, censorship, and authoritarian violence; gender constructions and feminist ideals; migration, interconnectedness, and community at a distance; state bureaucracies and the legacies of colonialism; and decolonial approaches to ecology.