Mónica Mayer | El Tendedero
Mónica Mayer’s 1978 work El Tendedero transformed a symbol of traditional feminine roles into a forum for conversation on violence against women. Since then, El Tendedero has been presented around the world, raising awareness and sparking conversation and inspiring action within each community. Join artist Mónica Mayer and art historian Karen Cordero Reiman for a conversation about the history of El Tendedero, social practice art and their impact. Special Introduction from Women4Change.
Mónica Mayer studied Visual Arts in Mexico, received an MA in Sociology of Art from Goddard College and participated in the Feminist Studio Workshop at the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles. Her work as an artist includes performances, drawing, writing, teaching and activism. She founded Polvo de Gallina Negra (Black Hen’s Dust) – the first feminist art collective in Mexico- with Maris Bustamante in 1983. In 1989, with Victor Lerma she started Pinto mi Raya, a long term applied conceptual art project whose goal is to lubricate the art system and has led to the creation of an important archive. Mayer has published several books, including Rosa chillante: mujeres y performance en México (Bright Pink: Women and Performance in Mexico). She had a column in El Universal newspaper for twenty years. She has participated in major international exhibitions such as WACK: Art and the Feminist Revolution and Radical Women. Latin American Art. 1960 – 1985. She is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores (National System of Creators) with a project on art and archives.
Karen Cordero Reiman is an art historian, curator and writer based in Mexico City. She is the author of numerous publications in her areas of specialization: twentieth and twenty-first century Mexican art; the relationship between the so-called “fine arts” and the so-called “popular arts” in Mexico; the historiography of Mexican art; body, gender and sexual identity in Mexican art; and museological and curatorial discourses in Mexico. In addition she has had a continuous participation in museums as curator, advisor and researcher. Currently she works as an independent researcher and curator, as well as on personal creative projects that relate art, literature and history. Cordero has curated several exhibitions of Mónica Mayer’s work including the major “retrocollective” show of her work in 2016 at the University Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC) in Mexico City and has written and lectured extensively on feminist art in Mexico.
El Tendedero/The Clothesline Indiana project is supported by Ann Stack, in partnership with Women4Change, the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault & Human Trafficking and over 75 additional Hoosier organizations. Visit women4changeindiana.org for more information.