Draft:Francisca Benítez

Francisca Benítez (born 1974) is a Chilean multidisciplinary visual and performance artist. Originally trained as an architect, her art practice explores relations between the logic of public space, the politics of community and the mediation of language. She works in mediums including drawing, video, photography, sculpture, performance and music.

The New York Times stated in a review by Gia Kourlas "Benítez's work is thematically connected by the exploration and delineation of boundaries, both social or spatial."

She has exhibited and performed internationally at venues such as Storefront for Art and Architecture, the Whitney Museum the Havana Biennial, the Jeu de Paume. and the 15th Bienal FEMSA.

Since 2017, she has been a member of the Stop Shopping Choir, an anti-capitalist direct action performance group.

Artistic Practice
Early works were "documentary-essays in video and photography about ephemeral architectures — temporary occupations of public space created by people and communities as means of survival or ritual use".

An early work was "Property Lines" (2008-2009), a performance work that consisted of the temporary occupation of 76 property lines by the artist on the streets of New York City, documented by creating graphite rubbings of their demarcations embedded in the ground.

She has worked with Deaf culture and sign language - driven by her deaf father's experiences as well as her direct engagement with problems that deaf communities face in gaining access to their languages. This body of work has often has taken the form of collabrative workshops in volving art institutions and the local deaf culture site Son en Señas.

Engaging Deaf Poetry as a point of departure, Benítez has created temporary collaborative art spaces to encourage an encounter between both Deaf and hearing cultures that work to highlight the narrative and spatial qualities of sign languages.

Regio and La Vieja Escuela https://dieecke.art/exhibiciones/riego/ https://franciscabenitez.org/works/riego/

Selected Solo Exhibitions

 * Riego, Die Ecke Santiago, Chile (2022)
 * Cuerpos Comunicantes, Die Ecke Barcelona, Spain (2019)
 * NEW NOW: Francisca Benítez, New Britain Museum of American Art, CT, US (2017)
 * Poemas Concretos, Die Ecke, Santiago, Chile (2016)
 * Oro Dulce, Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, New York, US (2016)
 * Canto Visual, Museo de Artes Visuales, Santiago, Chile (2013)
 * Oro Dulce, Die Ecke, Santiago, Chile (2011)
 * Francisca Benítez: 3 Videos, Die Ecke Barcelona, Spain (2010)
 * Eigentumsgrenze, Nada.Lokal, Vienna, Austria (2009)
 * Chamber, Lokal.int, Biel-Bienne, Switzerland (2009)
 * Prótesis del Nuevo Exodo, Die Ecke, Santiago, Chile (2007)
 * The making of Golden Warriors, Medianoche, New York, US (2006)

Selected Group Exhibitions

 * In Support, The Kitchen, New York, US (2022)
 * Soulèvements, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France (2016)
 * much wider than a line, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US (2016)
 * [https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/pier-54/ Soliloquy in Signs, Pier 54, New York, US (2014)
 * Thinking and Speaking, Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm, Sweden (2013)
 * The Street Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York, US (2011)