Love as a Political Force

Dora García

June 29, 2023, 6:30pm
Géza, 306 Maujer
Special Screening at 5pm
Artist Talk at 6:30pm

After a special screening of Amor Rojo (2022), at 5pm, Dora García speaks about her most recent film trilogy of the same title, comprising two medium-length films and a feature-length film, two books, four exhibitions, several workshops, as well as a magazine. A collective process from the get-go, this project involved people from different geographies and generations. The connecting tissue is Russian revolutionary, sex activist, writer, diplomat Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952), and more specifically how her ideas have been disseminated and transformed over more than a century and across different continents. While the terminology shifted, the struggle has consistently centered on two principles: love as a political force transcending the romantic couple and the family, and feminism striving beyond gender equality, aiming to overhaul the gender status quo.

Image: Amor Rojo is part of Rituals of Speaking, a film-led exhibition series that explores how artists represent the voices of others through collective storytelling.

Dora Garcia, Amor Rojo (2022), video still. Courtesy the artist and Auguste Orts.

Amor Rojo was born from the feeling of wonder at the latest feminist demonstrations across Latin America, and specifically in Mexico, a country that has been marked by gender violence. The performative qualities of these demonstrations, the way they appropriate and re-signify public space, and re-write official history (traditionally dominated by male, white figures) is at the center of this research project. Today’s feminist and trans-feminist fights across Latin America seem to have lost any remaining trust in the state, demanding a complete overturning of established values regarding family, reproductive rights, social structure, and economic and ecological policies. In doing so, they echo the disappointment of Kollontai’s generation, bringing renewed hope to the broken promises of a revolution started almost a century ago.
About the artist

Dora García lives and works in Oslo. She often works with film, performance, and theater. Her research focuses on contemporary history, ethics, and politics.

Dora García represented Spain at the 54th Venice Biennial in 2011. Her works have been exhibited internationally in museums and biennials, such as MuHKA, Antwerp; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès, Brussels; Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto; Fonderie Darling - Centre d’Arts Visuels, Montreal; FRAC Île-de-France, Paris; Tate Modern, London; Centre Georges-Pompidou, Paris; as well as (d)OCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, 2nd Athens Biennial, Lyon Biennial, 29th São Paulo Biennial, and the Gwangju Biennial. This is her first solo show in New York.