Solo soy una chica
(2024)
In the middle of the room a smiling tank protects a series of paintings inspired by memes that are allusive to femcel cyberculture, an internet phenomenon that captives a diverse group of women with opinions that would be shocking in any other scenery. If we open a forum with this hashtag we will encounter posts that go from the puerile Lana del Rey fan that fantasies with a videoclip like romance, to the victim of violence full of rage that screams the songs of Lingua Ignota, or the average white chick that voted for Hillary just because she was assigned female at birth. There are all kinds. The victims and the victimizers, entangled in the same web of data covered by the umbrella of "Involuntary celibate women”.
Or not? Unlike the incels (involuntary celibate men), it is difficult to find an unique ideology or motive that can help us understand their real intentions. Besides, contrary to the men's movement there is no call for terrorist action, which has indeed led to crimes against women. However, this does not keep the femcels away from hate speeches that disguise themselves as self-victimization: “The white woman is the most controversial figure in the world”, reads one of the posts that inspired this exhibition by Valentina Cadena. The role of the victim is very well portrayed in the tears of the meme of an ugly wojak crying wearing bunny ears, this is usually the perfect weapon to justify the violence perpetrated by powerful and privileged women
Society isn't’ ready for me…
“I Am A Woman. I Am Gay. I Have Severe Depression(...) Nobady Knows What The Fuck I Am Talking About. Millennials fear me, Zoomers want what I have, Boomers want me dead.” We can read one of the paintings in the room, where Valentina takes the image of a gyaru and the ironic statement of some anonymous user. Who are you? From which place do you take a stance? These are questions that become constant once you are exposed to the digital lecture of social media. This mandatory “X stance” appears as comical in Valentina's selection of images; who in her work tends to put into question the bodies that are disciplined by the algorithm and the discourses that are censored or rather practice self-censorship in order to fit into the most recent political discourse. Always from a place of sharp humor that lets her play: Maybe I’m a victim, maybe I'm a villain, maybe I'm an internet meme but right now I cannot give a concrete answer. Please don't ask me… I'm just a girl.
Bait, Mural (2024)