“In Looting, my mouth acts as a metaphor for my land,” Galindo said. For this performance, she had eight fillings, made of pure Guatemalan gold, inserted into her molars by a dentist. She then traveled to Germany, where the fillings were extracted. All that remains is the gold: imprints of her mouth that resemble tiny sculptures from an imaginary archaeological museum. Looting enacts the violence of extractive economies, like mining, as well as the violence by which many artifacts have historically entered museum collections.

Gallery label from

Chosen Memories, April 30–September 9, 2023

Provenance

Regina José Galindo, 2010
ROLLO Contemporary Art, London
Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York and Caracas, 2011
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2017

Medium Eight gold fillings
Dimensions 53 9/16 × 14 15/16 × 14 15/16" (136 × 38 × 38 cm)
Credit Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros through the Latin American and Caribbean Fund
Object number 672.2017
Department Media and Performance

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Regina José Galindo

Regina José Galindo

Guatemalan, born 1974 3 works online

In her work, Regina José Galindo subjects her body to the experiences of others. Her performances explore not only the histories and circumstances of people from her native Guatemala, but also the violence that power structures wreak around the world.

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