Tania Bruguera is a Cuban artist that, since 1986, has been interpreting the body as a social landscape. Mainly interested in political affairs, the artist’s work sees behavior as the principle source of human emotional perception; a modus operandi that can be defined as Arte de Conducta. Creating art is a way of gaining knowledge, to search different points of view on a topic, whether it is of artistic, social or political relevance. Her performances are both physical and psychological experiences at the same time; and also ephemeral, not only because they deal with the use of action and the fragility of materials, but mainly because any political ‘truth’, for Bruguera, can only be considered as such. Even the concept of performance gets broader, since the artist involves the audience deep in the action, creating a tension/friction between artist and spectator. Braguera puts on stage, without intermediations, human emotions such as fear, vulnerability, the embrace of responsibility, self-determination and freedom, but also submission and obedience seen as a strategy of survival.
Tania Bruguera was born in 1968 in Havana, Cuba. She lives and works between Chicago, Paris and Havana. She has taken part in the projects: Documenta 11 (Kassel), Performa (New York), three Venice Biennials and two Gwangju Biennials (Corea); also three Biennials in Havana. Her works have been exhibited in some of the most important museums and galleries in Europe and America, among which are: Tate Modern, The Whitechapel Gallery (London), ZKM (Karlsruhe), IVAM (Valencia), Kunsthalle of Wien, PS1 and The New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York).
