Juvenal Barría is a visual artist, photographer and arts manager, with a Bachelor in Visual Arts from the Universidad de Playa Ancha (Valparaíso, Chile).
Their recent production takes archive material and performance as main axes, from which, through his alter ego “la Martuca”, a transvestite domestic maid, Juvenal puts in tension social aspects related to power, abuse, politics and classes. The ideas that cross their work are influenced, in turn, by their own personal history, their sexual orientation and Huilliche ethnic origin, creating fictions and simulations of stories the artist presents through photography, video and installation.
Juvenal has shown their work continuously since 2004, both in Chile and abroad. In 2009, they received the Critics Award in the Emerging Artist category for their exhibition Fictional Bodies, held that same year at CENTEX, extension cultural centre of the Ministry of Cultures and Arts of Chile in Valparaíso. In 2018, they obtained the award for Best Exhibition at Galería Weekend Santiago for their solo show INFILTRADAX, curated by Felipe Forteza and Isabel Croxatto, presented at Isabel Croxatto Galería in Santiago.
They have worked as a project evaluator for Chile’s National Fund for Art and Culture (FONDART) in the area of Visual Arts, New Media and Photography. They have participated as a jury in several national photography competitions, also in the selection of annual exhibition projects for the Gallery of the National Council of Culture and Arts.
Juvenal has taken part in artist-in-residence programmes en Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay; and their work has been shown in solo exhibitions, group shows and biennales in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and France.
Juvenal Barría currently lives and works in Valparaíso, Chile, where they manage and directs the contemporary art space Gálvez Inc/Judas Galería.
