Naomi Rincón Gallardo's Spiral Pedagogy of Agitation

Naomi Rincón Gallardo's artistic approach intertwines Mesoamerican mythology, queer theory, and political activism, utilizing video art that incorporates DIY costumes, punk music, and nonhuman figures. Her earlier work, "Utopías Piratas" (2012), featured interviews with JAR (Revolutionary Anti-authoritarian Youth), a punk activist collective that emerged during the 1993 Tlatelolco protests and later supported the Zapatista movement. The "Tzitzimime Trilogy" (2021–23), presented at La Casa Encendida in Madrid and the Mexican Pavilion during the 2022 Venice Biennale, reinterprets Mexica deities to challenge necropolitics. Her newest video, "Dung Kinship" (2024), showcased at the Toronto Biennial, depicts a fly in drought-stricken Oaxaca, connecting composting and dry toilets to broader ecological and political themes. Rincón Gallardo prioritizes collaborative, spiral temporality over traditional linear storytelling, referencing theorists such as Ivan Illich, Paulo Freire, Sylvia Marcos, and Cherríe Moraga. Her exhibition "Planetary Convulsions" is currently on display at Kadist, San Francisco, until 2 August 2025.