Maris Bustamante (born November 10, 1949) is a Mexican interdisciplinary artist. She has presented her work in 21 solo

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

s and over 400 group shows in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and internationally. She has conceived, written, produced and executed more than 250 performances, installations, environments and two big “contraespectáculos” (anti-shows). Busta has also presented

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

pieces through

television broadcasts Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

, which she called "social performances" involving the non-arts public. She also designs sets, costumes, and props for theatre, television, and cinema. Bustamante is a respected teacher and for more than thirty years has been a professor at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de la Unidad Azcapotzalco. Since the 1990s she has maintained a robust career as a researcher and writer on themes related to conceptual art, performance, and participation. Her writing has appeared in seminal books and exhibition catalogues, including ''Corpus Delecti: Performance Art of the Americas (2000), Arte o esVida: Actions by Artists of the Americas, 1960–2000 ''(2008)', and ''Asco: Elite of the Obscure, 1972–1987'' (2011).

Education

She studied at Escuela Nacional de Pintura Y Escultura "La Esmeralda", one of the two top art schools in Mexico, from 1968 to 1973.

Artwork and performance

In the 1970s, she began working as a

conceptual artist Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called instal ...

, participating in the Groups ("Los Grupos") Movement in

México City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. She worked with the group "NO GRUPO" since its founding in 1979, until its dissolution six years later. Since producing her first happening in 1971, she has researched non-traditional narratives. From 1977 to 1983, No Grupo staged several performances each year. In 1979, Bustamante spearheaded their extremely satirical ''Patente del Taco'' (1984'')''. The piece primarily consisted of Bustamante’s application for and reception of a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

for the

taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of filling ...

, an indigenous Mexican food. The taco and patent were photographed in

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

ways, with the food arranged vertically and decorated with slogans such as “Atrévase a cometer un acto erótico cómase un taco” (commit an erotic act: eat a taco). The images were then blown up to a cartoonish side to symbolize the inflated role of

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

in Mexican culture. In 1983, with

Mónica Mayer Mónica Mayer (born 1954) is a feminist Mexican artist, activist, and art critic whose work includes performance, digital graphics, drawing, photography and art theory. As a conceptual artist, curator, art critic and art theorist she has been e ...

, she founded the first

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

art collective An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything that is relevant to the needs ...

in Mexico, Polvo de Gallina Negra (Black Hen Powder). Bustamante and Mayer's work combined radical social criticism and humour, exemplified by the group’s name: “Black Hen Powder – to protect us from the patriarchal magic which makes women disappear.” For one performance, ¡MADRES! (1984), Bustamante and Mayer became pregnant at the same time so they could experience the conditions of pregnancy in Mexico. One element of the performance was a television series on Canal 2 de Televisa Mexico called “Mother for a Day,” in which Bustamante and Mayer “impregnated” famous men like anchorman Guillermo Ochoa (1987). A key discussion topic on the show was domestic life, with a focus on the massive amount of labor that goes into motherhood.McCaughan, Edward J. "Navigating the Labyrinth of Silence: Feminist Artists in Mexico." ''Social Justice'' 34 (2007): 44-62.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bustamante, Maris 1949 births Living people 20th-century Mexican women artists 21st-century Mexican women artists Conceptual artists Women conceptual artists Interdisciplinary artists Artists from Mexico City Feminist artists