Teresa Serrano

Teresa Serrano was born in Mexico City in 1936. Serrano married at age nineteen and eventually had six children. After her children had grown up, Serrano divorced her husband in 1982 and moved to New York to begin a career in art. Her husband had previously prevented her from going into the art world.[4] These particular limitations in Serrano's life had been a contributing influence in the creation of her art.

In New York City, Serrano connected with poets like David Shapiro and Raphael Rubinstein.[4]

Serrano often collaborated with close friends who were artists, but it was not until 1997 that Serrano began experimenting with other types of media to widen discourse about female roles within society.[5] Her first video was in regards to migration and memory.[4] She then ventured off to a television style of producing art which stemmed from her love of films. Using familiar media, such as soap operas, helped Serrano connect with audiences more clearly. It also led her to work with several female actresses and directors. She recalls her inspiration in various female filmmakers such as Sophie Calle and Chantel Akerman.[4] When it came to sculptures she used multiple materials like "iron, steel, fabric, ceramic, and fiberglass."[5]

Most of Serrano's work derives from the issue of female inequality and treatment in society. When she had created La piñata, she went to the area that had influenced her video and took photos of the town where the women had been murdered. She wanted to make a connection between the viewer and the subjects of those photographs.[3] It was meant to compel viewers to understand the bigger issue about femicide and how there wasn't any justice for it.

Serrano is mostly known for her exhibition titled Albur de Amor.[3] In this work, she captures all her photography and video art and puts them together. It explores the different themes she has worked with like sexual harassment, women's place in the workforce, and the feeling of being trapped as a woman in a male-dominated society.

In addition to being a self-taught artist, Serrano has studied with Mexican artists Carlos Orozco Romero and Javier Arevalo.[6]

Serrano has stated that she is not religious.[4] She resides and works in both Mexico and New York City.

La piñata (2003) Included in Serrano's "Rituals" video piece, La piñata showcases a man taunting and hitting a pinata shaped like a woman. Serrano had created this in response to the 2001 rape attacks and murders of women near Ciudad Juarez. A piñata shaped like a woman dangles from the ceiling as a man physically harasses it with a stick.[4] Serrano was one of the first artists to use her craft to highlight and address femicide and gender violence.[3]

Restraint (2006) With video as a medium, Serrano herself portrays a woman who tries to soften the voice of a hotel bell. Her finger is stuck on the bell as she frantically attempts to write. Annoyed, the woman attempts to use earplugs and headphones to cancel the noise, to no avail. She eventually puts a black hood over herself, and this calms her. The piece is symbolic of the suppression of women in society and speaks to the limitations placed on women to limit development and fulfillment.[4]

Glass Ceiling (2008) Short film exhibited by Art for the World. A woman is seen going up some stairs, but is stopped by a man. The piece discusses the sexism and patriarchy that women may face in the workplace as they attempt to advance in a career.[7]

• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• Daros Latinamerica Collection
• Cemex México
• CAAM Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Canarias; Museo ARTIUM, Vitoria-Gasteiz
• MEIAC Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Badajoz; Museo Amparo, Puebla
• MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey.

• 1994 - 2nd National Price of Outdoor Sculpture. Primer Certamen de Escultura al Aire Libre Corredor de la Roma. Delegacion Cuauhtemoc. Galeria OMR y Galeria

Nina Menocoal. Consejo Nacional Para la Cultura ya Las Artes, Cd. de Mexico.

• 1995 - Honorable Mention, 2nd Sculpture Biennale. Museo Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey, Mexico
• 2001 - First prize Playgrounds and Toys, Geneva Switzerland. ONU and Adelina Von Furstenberg . United Nations, New York, NY. USA- New Delhi, India.

1. Serrano, Teresa, and Gutiérrez Rufina. Material didáctico: Actividades Para El Descubrimiento, Unidades guía, Preescolar. Instituto De Estudios Pedagógicos, 1983.
2. Sichel, Berta M. 14 Artistas: Leandro Katz, Lorraine O'Grady, Teresa Serrano, Hanne Nielsen y Birgit Johnsen, Lotty Rosenfeld, Dana Levy, Marta Chilindron, Valie Export, Germaine Dulac, Yvonne Rainer, Wolf Vostell, Jeremy Blake, Ulrike Ottinger, But Barr. Athenaica, Ediciones Universitarias, 2017.
3. FINNEGAN, NUALA. CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMINICIDIO AT THE US -MEXICO BORDER. ROUTLEDGE, 2018.
4. “At the Met...from Winterthur” New York Magazine, 17 Oct. 1994, p. 119.
5. “Teresa Serrano. Albur De Amor.” Artium, 31 Jan. 2014, www.artium.org/en/exhibitions/item/55849-teresa-serrano.-albur-de-amor.

• Official website
• Restraint (video) on Vimeo