Catalina Schliebener

Bio:

Catalina Schliebener Muñoz (b.1980), is a Sudamerican, Chilean-born visual artist and educator who works primarily with collage, installation, and murals. Their work draws on images, objects, and narratives associated with childhood and explores gender, sexuality, and class. They earned a Bachelor of Philosophy (2008) and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (2005) from the Universidad de Arte y Ciencias Sociales (ARCIS; Santiago, Chile).

Schliebener Muñoz’s work has been exhibited internationally including solo shows at the Queens Museum, Queens, NY (2024), Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA (2024), Colby Museum of Arts, Waterville, Maine (2024), Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, New York, NY (2022, 2016), Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA (2021), HACHE Arte Contemporáneo, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2017), Point of Contact Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY (2016), CCMATTA Embassy of Chile in Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2015), Fundación Esteban Lisa, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2014), CCE-Centro Cultural de España, Santiago, Chile (2011), Galería Balmaceda 1215, Santiago, Chile (2008), among others.

They have shown in group exhibitions at the National Academy of Design, New York, NY (2023), Casa del Bicentenario, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2023), Children’s Museum of Manhattan, New York, NY (2022), Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York, NY (2021), Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY (2021), Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY (2019), The Loisaida Center, New York, NY, US (2019), Center for Books Arts, New York, NY (2016), Galería LOCAL, Santiago, Chile (2013), Galería Metropolitana, Santiago, Chile (2012), Galeria Gravura Brasileira, São Paulo, Brazil (2012), Biblioteca de Santiago, Santiago, Chile (2011), Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2009), Catalyst Arts, Belfast, Northern Ireland (2007), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC), Santiago, Chile (2003) among many others.

Schliebener Muñoz is a recipient of the following grants: FONDART Grants (Cultural and Arts Development Fund of the Government of Chile, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), DIRAC (Board of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Relations of Chile, 2007) and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts (New York, NY, 2021, 2024), among others. They also received a Queer Artist Fellowship from the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (2017), and an Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) Fellowship from the Bronx Museum of the Arts (2018). Currently Schliebener Muñoz is an In Situ Fellow (2022-2024) at Queens Museum, Queens, NY.

In addition, Schliebener Muñoz has extensive teaching experience, from early childhood education to undergraduate education, on topics ranging from philosophy and art theory to art instruction in schools, studios, and museum settings. They are currently working as a teaching artist with the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art and they facilitate gender and sexuality trainings for the Early Childhood Professional Development Institute at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Represented in Argentina by HACHE GALERÍA

For more recent work and process, visit Instagram: @catalina_schliebener

Statement:

I work primarily with collage, drawings, murals, and installations. The subject matter of my work focuses on everyday images and objects related to childhood. Children’s books, pedagogical objects, costumes, and games are frequent sources of material in my work.

Research is a fundamental part of my practice, as is sourcing material on the street, in secondhand stores, and in lost-and-found bins. The starting point for me is always a found object or image that triggers a series of formal and conceptual connections. The time I spend looking for materials slows and shifts the act of acquisition, forcing constant adaptation, while also introducing accident and surprise into the process, and opening up exchanges with alternative economies. I cut up, reposition, extract details, and erase features of my source materials in order to build collages and installations.

The choice of collage as my primary medium is related to the fact that it is often considered a minor medium within the visual arts. I like its close connection to do-it-yourself crafts and the activities of hobbyists. This practice allows me to make small modifications and alterations in the meaning and use of the objects and images I choose.

I am particularly interested in childhood because in this period the limits between reality and fiction are not yet defined. I intentionally work with material that carries implicit narratives around gender, sexuality, and class. Children’s stories and games are embedded with morals that indirectly teach social and behavioral norms. I seek to draw attention to these norms in order to render them uncanny. My intention with this strategy is to pause or interrupt the narrative, to introduce ambiguity in the face of supposed certainty.

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Contact:
catalinaschliebener [at] gmail.com