Mariana Monteagudo: Not the Average Doll

Mariana Monteagudo’s latex, ceramic and mixed-media dolls reflect Latin American culture and show her attraction to Japanese manga and mass-market toys.  The Miami-based, Venezuelan artist has been creating the Munecas (dolls) for 15 years.

Monteagudo opened a new show (Humanoid) at Galería El Museo, Bogotá, this month, running through May 26. She says her work has hardened recently, slowly unfolding “with a different spirit, more industrial, more hybrid, taking references from the memory of our generation.”

“Little heroes, versions of action figures, cartoon characters and Barbie dolls are the sources of inspiration,” she says. “A look from the distance to the icons of our society, trying not to take them for granted, but showing a different side, sometimes dark and frightening.”

Mariana Monteagudo’s website, here.

Exhibition website, here.