Guatemalan artist Regina José Galindo will hold her first solo exhibition in Rio de Janeiro starting on 7 June at Portas Vilaseca. Curated by Daniela Labra, “Primavera Democrática” [ Democratic Spring ]showcases videos and photographs from performances conducted between 2017 and 2025 in various cities around the world, providing a comprehensive overview of Galindo’s influential career as a leading figure in performance art.

As part of the program, the public is also invited to witness a new live performance by the artist on June 3 at 10 a.m., in a public space in downtown Rio. This action, named after the exhibition, offers a powerful critique of the persistent violence against women—even in countries that are considered democratic and stable.

Democratic Spring is part of the special calendar of events and exhibition projects celebrating Portas Vilaseca’s 15th anniversary in 2025.

More information coming soon.

Info

Democratic Spring – Regina José Galindo
Curated by: Daniela Labra
Opening: 7 June, Sat, 4 – 8 pm
Period of the show: 7.06 – 26.07.2025
Performance: 3 June, 10 am – Praça da Harmonia, Gamboa

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Born in 1974 in Guatemala City, where she lives and works, Regina José Galindo‘s work is deeply marked by the structural violence of Latin American society, focusing on issues such as human rights, feminicide, colonial heritage and social inequalities. In 2005, she was awarded the Golden Lion at the 51st Venice Biennale for her performance ‘¿Quién puede borrar las huellas?’, in which she walked barefoot through the streets of the Guatemalan capital leaving bloody footprints in protest against impunity and her country’s violent political past. Since then, she has taken part in major international exhibitions such as the Venice, São Paulo, Havana, Sharjah and Istanbul Biennials, as well as showing her work at institutions such as MoMA (New York), Tate Modern (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris) and Guggenheim (New York).

With an artistic language that uses her own body as a political instrument, Galindo creates impactful actions that tension the boundaries between art, denunciation and activism. His work has been fundamental to the contemporary debate on gender, violence and the mechanisms of power in Latin American societies.

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Photo: Juan Esteban Calderón (Performance: Guatemala Feminicida, 2021)