Ana Teresa Fernández's 'Under Pressure' at National Museum of Mexican Art
Ana Teresa Fernández, a Tampico native born in 1981 and currently residing in San Francisco, showcases her inaugural solo exhibition titled 'Under Pressure' at the National Museum of Mexican Art's Sala Rubin & Paula Torres, which will be open until August 2. Curated by Guadalupe García, the exhibition features various mediums, including video, installation, painting, and performance, all centered on the theme of environmental crisis. A notable performance includes the act of pressing a stiletto heel into a balloon filled with blue ink, symbolizing the melting of glaciers. The display also features 'S.O.S.', a collaborative intervention at Ohio Street Beach during Expo Chicago, and critiques of abstract expressionism and male dominance, with balloon bursts creating artwork that resembles glacier maps. Additionally, Fernández reenacts René Magritte's 'The Lovers' at the US-Mexico border, emphasizing the harsh use of technology against migrants.
Key facts
- Ana Teresa Fernández was born in Tampico in 1981 and is based in San Francisco.
- 'Under Pressure' is her first solo exhibition in Chicago, at the National Museum of Mexican Art.
- The exhibition runs until August 2 at the Sala Rubin & Paula Torres.
- Curated by Guadalupe García, the show includes video, installation, painting, and performance.
- A central performance features a stiletto heel pressing into a blue-ink-filled balloon to evoke glacial melt.
- 'S.O.S.' was a collective intervention at Ohio Street Beach during Expo Chicago using mirrors to flash Morse code.
- Fernández's earlier work 'Borrando la frontera' (2011) involved painting the border fence sky blue.
- She reenacts René Magritte's 'The Lovers' with thermal blankets on the US-Mexico border near San Diego.
- Thermal blankets were developed by NASA in 1964 and are now used in detention centers for undocumented immigrants.
- Fernández uses balloon explosions to create paintings that resemble aerial glacier cartography.
- The artist coined the term 'monumento social' for 'S.O.S.'.
- She speaks five languages and has been based in San Diego since age eleven.
Entities
Artists
- Ana Teresa Fernández
- Guadalupe García
- René Magritte
- Saidiya Hartman
Institutions
- National Museum of Mexican Art
- Expo Chicago
- NASA
Locations
- Tampico
- San Francisco
- Chicago
- Ohio Street Beach
- San Diego
- United States
- Mexico
- Antarctica
- Greenland
- Lake Michigan