Tecla Tofano

The artist Tecla Tofano (b. March 5, 1927, in Naples, Italy, d. October 20, 1995, in Caracas, Venezuela) was a critical figure in the Latin American feminist movement, carving a voice in an extremist socio-political atmosphere in Venezuela. This special presentation highlights an important group of ceramics from the 60s and 70s, expanding upon the gallery’s November 2023 exhibition, Tecla Tofano: This Body of Mine. A voracious maker, the artist channeled her ideas most notably through ceramics, though she was also an adept draftswoman, a metalsmith, and a writer. Tofano embraced rough, hand-built surfaces, as evidenced in her uncompromising works, which range from extruded body parts to fantastical figurines and elaborately formed vessels. 

Tofano is featured in Crafting Modernity, Design in Latin America, 1940–1980 through September 22, 2024 at MoMA, New York. 

James Cohan has published the first-ever monograph dedicated to the artist, co-edited by Gabriela Rangel and Luis Felipe Farías. It features an essay by Rangel, a detailed chronology by Farías, and translations of Tofano’s poetry and writing by Lucía Hinojosa Gaxiola.