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Francisca Benitez (b.1974) is an interdisciplinary artist, born and raised in Chile, who moved to New York in 1998. Through a variety of mediums, her practice delves into space, politics and language, documenting existing situations or proposing new ones. Notable works include Property Lines, a series of brief occupations and ensuing graphite rubbings on paper (New York, 2008); and the videos Sukkah (New York, 2001) and Oro Dulce (Chile, 2011-2015).
She graduated as an architect from the Universidad de Chile in 1998, and received a Master in Fine Arts from Hunter College of the City University of New York in 2007. Solo exhibitions include Canto Visual, Museo de Artes Visuales, Santiago, 2013; Oro Dulce, Die Ecke, Santiago, 2011; Eigentumsgrenze, nadaLokal, Vienna, 2009; Prótesis del Nuevo Exodo, Die Ecke, Santiago, 2007; The making of Golden Warriors, Medianoche, New York, 2006. Actions and performances worth noting: As you lean on me and I lean on you, we move forward, The High Line, New York; Son en Señas, Centro Wifredo Lam, Bienal de la Habana, Havana, 2015; Alternate Path, Storefront for Art & Architecture at Pier 57, New York, 2013; and Through sites of dissent, Gasworks, London, 2012.
Some of her group exhibitions include Uprisings, Jeu de Paume, Paris; Much wider than a line, SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2016; Mapping Brooklyn, Brooklyn Historical Society, New York, 2015; Efemérides, Museo Histórico Nacional, Santiago, 2014; Thinking and Speaking, Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm; New Publics, Close Closer, Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Lisbon, 2013; Desire Lines, Espai Cultural Caja Madrid, Barcelona, 2012; L’œil sur les rues, Parc de la Villette, Paris; The Street Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York, 2011; Contaminaciones Contemporáneas, Museu de Arte Contemporánea da USP, Sao Paulo, 2010; Reinventing Ritual, The Jewish Museum, New York; Turn on, Tune In, Drop out, Beijing Biennale, Beijing, 2009; and Occasional Cities, Centre de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona, Barcelona, 2008.
Book I’m currently reading: Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Maintenance Art by Patricia C. Phillips, with contributions from Tom Finkelpearl, Larissa Harris, Lucy Lippard, Laura Raicovich, Mierle Laderman Ukeles (Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ exhibition catalog from her show at the Queens Museum)
For further information – Property Lines, (New York, 2008), Sukkah (New York, 2001) , Oro Dulce (Chile, 2011-2015)
