FACET, VSSL Studio’s programme dedicated to the exploration and celebration of contemporary queer art and culture is to present 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’slover 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 Maduras 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.
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.
Says FACET curator Benjamin Sebastian
FACET Presents, Frutas Maduras : Rocío Boliver – 26th November 2023 VSSL Studio
Launch Event:
Friday, 10th of November, 6 – 9 pm, With a live performance from Rocío Boliver, Karolina Bazydlo, and Bartlomiej Gudejko. VSSL Studio, 50 Resolution Way Deptford. SE8 4AL REGISTER (For FREE)
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
Rocío Boliver’s exhibition is the 4th of 5 FACET exhibitions, including exhibitions from Benjamin Sebastian with Alicia Radage, June Lam, a Group Exhibition, 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 & 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.
