‘Memorial’ 1 Favorite 

Cheril Linett is a female artist from Chile, with a background in performance art and stage performance, who primarily focuses her artwork on feminist issues in Chile, especially ones involving violence, murder, hate crime and different kinds of oppression and assault, but also creates artwork reflecting issues in other parts of Latin America. Linett collaborates with and invites other women, who act as her canvases, to work with her to create a cohesive piece addressing and critiquing feminist issues while working with photographers and videographers to document her performances. Not only do her use of setting and the human form create a unique artistic statement, but the use of striking colors, highly symbolic props, and the graphic portrayal of the human body help create a highly compelling argument, working to enact change within her community. Videos and photographs of Linett’s work are displayed in the Centro de Artes de Vanguardia la Neomudéjar en Madrid, a contemporary gallery space in an abandoned warehouse in Madrid, featuring the works of various art activists from around the world. One piece in this gallery space, entitled “Memorial, stood out in particular. This performance piece took place in 2020 and refers to and protests the abductions, murders and violence towards women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as well as the lack of response and action taken by the Mexican government. Linett’s art piece is inspired by the pink cross memorials in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a major city right next to the US/ Mexican border, representing the women killed in the “femicide” within the last couple years, and acting as a visible resistance to the government as well as a constant reminder of the mass violence taking place on the land. Since 1993, hundreds of women from Ciaudad Juarez, have been murdered, raped, and tortured and many remain missing. Many of these women were young, lower class and factory workers. The government has turned a blind eye to this women-targeted violence and have failed to carry out investigations and punishment for the perpetrators of the murders. In Ciudad Juarez, women and workers lack basic rights and labor protection, are extremely underpaid, and lack resources such as access to clean drinking water. The pollution, drought and corpses have all taken place and become a part of this landscape.

Cheril Linett’s “Memorial” performance piece involves a group of women, dressed in teal transparent gowns, revealing their breasts, and holding up bright teal colored crosses with names of victims. The women all have their faces covered with teal cloth. The women walk along the river, lay down, and emerge whilst holding the cross, almost as if they are emerging from the graves. The women walk along the site of the drought, threatening to “flood the city” with their bodies in resistance to the government’s negligence of the female homicides as well as the unbearable conditions faced by workers and residents of this city. It is important to note that the “femicide” has not only affected cis-women, but has also killed trans-gender women and transvestites. The women endure extreme heat and expose themselves to harsh conditions in order to highlight the unfair conditions endured by the people living in these conditions and show they are willing to sacrifice their own safety and comfort for the women who were stripped of this liberty. This performance uses human form, color, and setting to critique and resist the unjust, apathetic Mexican government.