Isabel Croxatto Galería celebrates the participation of Poleo Painemal, an artist represented by the gallery, in the 17th Biennial of Media Arts of Santiago, one of the most innovative platforms for contemporary art in Chile.
Painemal is part of Zurcida, a multimedia installation co-curated by renowned Mapuche trans artist and curator Seba Calfuqueo, which brings together outstanding trans creators from Chile and Argentina. The exhibition will be on view from 9 to 26 October 2025 at the Centro Cultural CEINA, as part of the Biennial’s program. This year's edition is titled "Hiperrealidades" and is under the general curatorship of Nicolás Oyarce.
In an international context marked by the resurgence of discourses threatening the hard-won rights of sexual dissidences, Zurcida rises as both a political and poetic gesture — a space of resistance and trans-Andean dialogue. Through works spanning painting, video, and installation, the exhibition reflects on the body as a territory in transformation, challenging the normative boundaries of gender and sexuality.
Within this framework, Poleo Painemal presents the series La ancestralidad también se construye en el presente (2025), a group of 17 oil paintings on canvas that explore tenderness, memory and violence through a deeply embodied and territorial sensitivity. The artist, originally from Temuco and known for her direct and emotive pictorial language, has developed a practice that delves into the wounds and resistances of identity, using painting as a space for healing and political affirmation.
Under the co-curatorship of Seba Calfuqueo —who has participated in major international biennials such as Venice, Whitney, São Paulo, and Mercosur— Zurcida brings together a group of artists whose practices weave new narratives around transition, community, and trans artistic creation in Latin America. Painemal’s participation in this exhibition represents not only an important recognition of her trajectory, but also a vital contribution to the contemporary dialogue on art, the body, and dissidence.