Chalton Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition by the legendary Mexican art collective Pinto mi Raya, which was formed in 1989 by Monica Mayer and Victor Lerma and continues to be a fundamental and active agent in the Mexican and international art scene. The group’s self-declared objective is to “lubricate the art system” through “applied conceptual art” that, in addition to its symbolic qualities, interacts directly with its cultural and political context, using humor and affect to establish a dialogue with different communities. Their multidisciplinary performative work creates an alternative model with respect to the hegemonic art system, opening up new possibilities for personal and collective transformation and resistance.

Monica Mayer (Mexico City, 1954) has been considered one of the foremost reference points for Mexican feminist art since the 1970s, with a practice that includes performance, works on paper, writing and teaching. Víctor Lerma (Tijuana, 1949) is a highly respected artist known for his multimedia objects, architectural interventions and creation of archives, as well as his performance work. The exhibition includes three key long-term projects that this artistic duo has produced and continued to reactivate over the course of their thirty years of personal and political collaboration: Las bodas y el divorcio / The Weddings and the Divorce, Yo No Celebro Ni Conmemoro Guerras / I Don’t Celebrate Nor Commemorate Wars and Abrazos / Hugs. There will be continued activations of several of the pieces throughout the exhibition.

The show has been conceptualized by Karen Cordero Reiman, a Mexico City based art historian, curator and writer who has worked extensively on modern and contemporary art from a feminist perspective, with the collaboration of the art historian and curator Lassla Esquivel, of the London-based platform Periferia Projects.