VSSL Studio are proud to present the 4th offering from the FACET programme with Frutas Maduras - a bold and uncompromising photographic series from renowned Mexican performance artist Rocío Boliver.
The 12 photographs, which have never been exhibited before, are selected from performance-to-camera documentation emerging from a year-long collaboration with photographer Karolina Bazydlo, and Bartlomiej Gudejko, (both Boliver and Bazydlo's lover at the time).
Responding to the invisibility of the ageing female form within the realms of sexual pleasure,
desire, and erotic play, the images subvert the concept of the traditional ‘pin-up’ calendar confronting the absurdity of society's narrow beauty standards and the consequent marginalisation of ageing women.
Both playful and poignant, Frutas Madura offers a rousing, empowering, and unapologetic message to women, urging them to embrace both their sexuality and their bodies. Viewers are encouraged to recognise and celebrate female sexuality, ownership, pleasure and the power that this holds.
***************************************************
Launch Event:
6-9 pm | Friday | 10th of November, 2023.
Join us & book your (free) place at the Launch Event where the exhibition will be activated by a live performance from Rocio Boliver and her collaborators Karolina Bazydlo and Bartlomiej Gudejko.
Exhibition Opening Hours:
12-5 pm | Thursday - Sunday | 11th - 26th of November, 2023.
Curatorial Interventions:
There will be a one-day workshop facilitated by Rocío Boliver during the exhibition yet to be announced. Follow us on Instagram and check our website for updates and information on how to sign up for this event.
***************************************************
About the Artist:
Known as La Congelada de Uva, Boliver is a key figure in underground performance art in
Mexico and beyond. For over thirty years, her work has defied the ideological grid that shapes women's lives, challenging ageism and capitalism's impact on women in the stages of life, between menopause and old age. Boliver's performances aim to demystify the perceived ‘horror’ of old age by creating the artist’s own deranged aesthetic and moral solutions for the "problem of age." Her work critiques the
repression of women and exposes a broken society based on looks and how old age has become synonymous with insult.
Boliver's performances have been presented extensively in Europe, Asia, North and South
America and she has participated in festivals globally; she is a grantee of the National System of Creators of Mexico. VSSL Studio is delighted to be given the auspicious opportunity to present Rocio Boliver’s photography for the first time ahead of her solo exhibition this November.
@rocioboliver
FACET curator Benjamin Sebastian said:
"For over three decades, Rocío Boliver has relentlessly refused misogynistic framing of her (and women's collectively) body, gender and sexuality, positioning herself as the Sheela-na-gig keystone in an architecture of anti-patriarchal visual art & activism."
Rocio Boliver’s exhibition is the 4th of 5 FACET exhibitions which include exhibitions
from Benjamin Sebastian with Alicia Radage, June Lam, a Group Show (running until 29th Oct), and Marcin Gawin in January 2024.
About VSSL Studio:
VSSL Studio is a place of gathering and creation. We are a not-for-profit creative studio, home to multiple artists and projects, located in Deptford, London. Our studio is a site for artistic production and engagement, dedicated to the holding and nurturing of time-based practices and their satellites. We are a queer-led organisation that centres queer and trans* artists in our work.
For more information on the FACET programme and its participating artists, visit vssl-studio.org/FACET and follow @vsslstudio on Instagram & Facebook for updates on curatorial interventions and additional programming for each exhibition.
Image Credits:
1. Cover Image - FRUTAS MADURA : Rocío Boliver & Bartlomiej Gudejko | images by Karolina Bazydlo.