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Kati Horna Mexican, 1912-2000
Leonora, from the series Oda a la necrofilia, (Ode to necrophilia), 1962
Vintage gelatin silver print
9.84 x 8 in
25 x 20.3 cm
25 x 20.3 cm
In her photographic series, Horna offered a decidedly unromanticized and often eroticized vision of femininity, and sexuality. Among these series is Oda a la necrofilia, published in 1962 in the...
In her photographic series, Horna offered a decidedly unromanticized and often eroticized vision of femininity, and sexuality. Among these series is Oda a la necrofilia, published in 1962 in the avant-garde journal "S.nob," directed by the writer Salvador Elizondo, in which Horna coordinated the Fetiches section. This series—a visual narrative in which an enigmatic female protagonist covered by a black veil removes her clothing bit by bit while interacting with an unmade bed, a white mask, an open book, an umbrella, and a candle—evokes the ambiguous, erotic attraction provoked by an unrepresentable subject: death. Horna’s experiences of the war in Spain left a deep imprint in her later work. Some of her most personal series explores themes of disillusion, displacement, and loss, oftentimes with a refined sense of irony that can be traced back to the satirical, anti-fascist work of her early years in Europe. In Oda a la necrofilia—arguably the best known of the three series by Horna published in "S.nob"—erotic pleasure, suffering, and transience intertwine ritualistically as a mournful woman circles a deathbed. Standing as a fetish for the body of the deceased, a white mask carefully placed on top of a pillow becomes the recipient of the woman’s sorrow and desire.
Exhibitions
Between Light and Shadow, Ruiz-Healy Art, New York, 2025Kati Horna: In Motion, Ruiz-Healy Art, New York, 2023
Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 Digital Archive. Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2019
Kati Horna, Jeu De Paume, Paris, France and Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico; curators: Angeles Alonso Espinosa and José Antonio Rodríguez, 2013 (catalogue)
Literature
S.nob magazine, Mexico City, 1962Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 Digital Archive. Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2019.
Exhibition catalogue, Flores, Sergio, ed. Kati Horna. Paris: Jeu de Paume and Museo Amparo, Puebla, 2013, p. 161 (illustrated)
Publications
S.nob magazine, Mexico City, 1962Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 Digital Archive. Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2019.
Exhibition catalogue, Flores, Sergio, ed. Kati Horna. Paris: Jeu de Paume and Museo Amparo, Puebla, 2013, p. 161 (illustrated)