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Kati Horna: In Motion

Past exhibition
March 9 - May 19, 2023 New York City
Kati Horna, Leonora, from the series Oda a la necrofilia, (Ode to necrophilia), 1962
Kati Horna, Leonora, from the series Oda a la necrofilia, (Ode to necrophilia), 1962

Kati Horna Mexican, 1912-2000

Leonora, from the series Oda a la necrofilia, (Ode to necrophilia), 1962
Vintage Silver gelatin print (matte)
8 x 7.5
20.3 x 19.1 cm

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Kati Horna, Untitled, from the series Marchés aux puces, Paris, 1933/1960
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Kati Horna, Untitled, from the series Marchés aux puces, Paris, 1933/1960
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...
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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.
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Exhibitions

Kati Horna: In Motion, Ruiz-Healy Art, New York, 2023
Kati Horna, Jeu De Paume, Paris, France and Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico; curators: Angeles Alonso Espinosa and José Antonio Rodríguez (catalogue)

Literature

S. Elizondo, S.nob, No. 2, Mexico City, 27 June 1962, p. 25 (illustrated).
Flores, Sergio, ed. Kati Horna, Paris, Jeu de Paume, 2013, p. 163 (illustrated).
Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 Digital Archive. Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2019.
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Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio

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