Nov. 16, 2022
“My interest in using the body as a principal tool enables me to undermine the boundaries of politics, to challenge social conventions and to test the endurance of viewers,” says Miami-based artist Antonia Wright in her introductory biography. The Cuban American artist has received praise and recognition for her utilization of art, her body and expression to expose societal realities.
Most recently, Wright spotlighted her reaction to the women’s reproductive rights crisis with a solo show in collaboration with Spinello Projects. Through the exhibition titled I Came to See The Damage That Was Done and the Treasures That Prevail, she presented a body of work with highlights including a digital artwork installation, Women in Labor. Here, she created a sound art composition that used data signification to protest the changing laws around access to safe and legal abortions.
With the help of computational algorithms, Wright produced a visual representation of the new increase in mileage women are forced to travel to access care. To amplify this, she collected sounds of women in labor, including her own in 2015, encouraging her audience to engage in the experience of labor through sound. “All the works in the exhibition confront the idea of autonomy for the female reproductive body and what remains of our rights in our current post-Roe v. Wade moment in history,” shares Wright. “There are several works showing the pregnant body and the anxieties and beauty of that symbol. There are pieces about protest—smashed glass, barricades, sonic warfare—because the whole show is a protest—I want to galvanize those who rage against the new anti-choice laws. Our bodies are marked targets yet still undeniably powerful.”
Up next, she’ll be showcasing a large-scale project in collaboration with Ruben Millares of a 40-foot-long light sculpture entitled “Patricia y Vida” for the city of Miami Beach on display during Art Basel Miami Beach outside the Faena Hotel.
