Tania Bruguera - Latin America New York Wednesday, November 18, 2015 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

  • Catalogue Essay

    As the title suggests, the present lot is a maquette of an unrealized performance by Tania Bruguera. The proposed description of the performance illustrates her developing concern with the physical and psychological feats of endurance. Had the performance been realized, Bruguera would be hidden inside of the egg-like structure, slowly emerging by carving herself out of the shell. The plan for this work is consistent with other works where her body is literally used to explore issues of entrapment, exile, and displacement resonating with the fundamental human desire to obtain liberty.

  • Artist Biography

    Tania Bruguera

    Cuban • 1968

    Tania Bruguera began her study of art at age twelve in Havana at the experimental Escuela Elemental de Artes Plásticas and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Bruguera has developed a unique body of performative art that deals with reality and the present rather than with traditional modes of representation. This approach revolutionized the performance genre, allowing viewers to experience a living memory of social activism where the artist blurs the borders between art and life.

    Bruguera's performances explore immigrant rights and serve as a biting critique of the Cuban existence since the triumph of the supposed revolution. Bruguera's conceptual art, which she calls arte útil, achieves a tangible social and political impact and has led to her recognition through numerous awards. In 2014, Bruguera was famously arrested and subsequently detained in Cuba for almost a year following her attempt to restage her famous piece Tatlin's Whisper #6, which originally gave Cuban citizens a platform for free speech during the 2009 Havana Biennial.

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77

Untitled (Maquette)

1994
ceramic, paint and grass
4 3/4 x 9 x 5 in. (12.1 x 22.9 x 12.7 cm)
Signed "Tania Bruguera" on base.

Estimate
$5,000 - 7,000 

Sold for $5,000

Contact Specialist
Kaeli Deane
Head of Sale
New York
+1 212 940 1352

Latin America

New York Auction 18 November 2015 6pm