A History of Misogyny, Chapter Two – On Rape
Born in 1986, the Spanish artist lives and works in Barcelona. She is represented by the gallery Les Filles du Calvaire in Paris.
Laia Abril is a multidisciplinary artist who works with photography, text, video and sound in large-scale research projects. After a first five-year project on the subject of eating disorders, the artist embarked on a history of misogyny, a project that has received several awards, including the 2018 Visionary Award, the 2019 Magnum Foundation and the 2020 Paul-Huf FOAM Award. The first chapter devoted to abortion was exhibited at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2016 and earned her the first winner of the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro in 2016. The exhibition has been presented in more than ten countries, including the Photographers Gallery (London), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Zagreb), the Centro de la Imagen (Mexico), the Museum of Sex (New York), and has received the Hood Medal from the Royal Photographic Society. The book On Abortion and the repercussions of lack of access, published by Dewi Lewis in 2018, won the 2018 Aperture-Paris Photo Book of the Year award and was a finalist at the prestigious Deutsche Börse in 2019.
The second chapter A History of Misogyny, Chapter Two – On Rape was presented at the gallery Les Filles du Calvaire in 2020 before being exhibited at the Biennale de l’Image Possible (Liège), at FOAM (Amsterdam), and at the Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle. Laia Abril is currently developing the Genesis chapter on mass hysteria, which will be presented in 2023 at the Musée de l’Elysée (Lausanne) and at the Bal (Paris). Laia Abril is also the author of Thinspiration (2012), The Epilogue (Dewi Lewis, 2014), Tediousphilia (Musée de l’Elysée, 2014), Lobismuller (RM, 2016) and has worked closely with the team of COLORS magazine for five years. Her work has been exhibited worldwide and is found in private collections and museums, such as The Pompidou Centre, the Musée de l’Elysée and the Fotomuseum Winterthur, FRAC, MNAC and FotoColectania in Barcelona.
