![Kati Horna, Leonora, from the series Oda a la necrofilia, (Ode to necrophilia), 1962](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/ruizhealyart/images/view/ecda5b0d06a8412f1749fcf02a692f31p/ruiz-healyart-kati-horna-leonora-from-the-series-oda-a-la-necrofilia-ode-to-necrophilia-1962.png)
![Kati Horna, Leonora, from the series Oda a la necrofilia, (Ode to necrophilia), 1962](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/ruizhealyart/images/view/fded124e895cc68dde4d0b5508838fe1j/ruiz-healyart-kati-horna-leonora-from-the-series-oda-a-la-necrofilia-ode-to-necrophilia-1962.jpg)
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 childhood, femininity, and sexuality. Among these series is 'Oda a la necrofilia,' published in 1962 in...
In her photographic series, Horna offered a decidedly unromanticized and often eroticized vision of childhood, 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 section titled Fetiches. 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 explore 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 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
Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 Digital Archive. Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2019.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, 161 (illustrated)