Performance, Maria Elvia Marmolejo

María Elvira Marmolejo, one of the most radical performance artists to emerge in the 1980s, returned to the public arena on February 1^st, after 30 years of silence, with a performance titled 1 mayo 1981 – 1 febrero 2013. This work was originally conceived in 1981 as Mayo 1981.

Marmolejo (Colombia) added a new element to her performances on this occasion: the present time. The artist used her space to connect her personal experience of a violent and chaotic past to a present time marked by sweeping technological advances, where nevertheless the dynamic of social violence remains as grave, if not more.

Marmolejo's work has often taken place in isolated spots, away from the audience's gaze, with or without the consent of the authorities, as well as in institutions such as the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogotá, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Cartagena, or the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Guayaquil.

María Evelia Marmolejo is a Colombian artist living in New York City and holds an MFA in Humanities from the City University of New York. Her work can be seen as part of the context of the historical exhibition The Political Body: Radical Women in Latin American Art: 1960-1985, curated by Cecilia Fajardo-Hill and Andrea Giunta.