Jenny Priego

Adelita pata de perro en Arizona I – digital print
Adelita pata de perro en Arizona II – digital print

Jenny Priego is a visual and performance artist who draws inspiration from her existence as a feminine being. She uses several media to interpret her self-exploration, including technology, her body, her voice, and formal art technique. Recently, writer Ana Castillo described Priego as a “Chicago performance artist who has begun an exciting self-exploration through her self-portraits with photography and video, from neo–Mexican Revolutionary soldaderas who break borders by appearing in unexpected locations around the globe to ‘spoiled bride’ portraits. Priego is a feminist who believes that femininity is not cause for victimization by society. Instead, the feminine subject challenges society through her very femininity.”

Priego’s Adelita pata de perro is an ongoing project based on the Mexican Revolution’s soldaderas, female soldiers who fought alongside male revolutionaries. Priego sees the early twentieth century rifle-toting revolutionary as a twenty-first century Wonder Woman breaking borders throughout the planet. Using herself to represent this figure, she intervenes in international spaces, posing at the Royal Palace in Bangkok, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Coliseum in Rome, among others. Priego’s Fade-Out series critiques the sanctity of marriage and bridal trends. In collaboration with La Pocha Nostra (under the direction of artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña), she has portrayed the feminine image of the pristine flight attendant. Her development and self-examination continue as she explores ancient goddesses and their modern-day counterparts.

© Jenny Priego