Roxana Rios
FIGURE, FORM
Roxana Rios (*1994) lives and works in Leipzig. Rios' artistic practice critically examines the development of (hegemonic) narratives and the connections between image and knowledge production. Through photographic, performative, and installation-based formats, they explore the body as a construct, material, and representative within societal structures and orders.
In 2017, Rios began a dual study program at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Nürnberg in the classes of Heidi Specker and Juergen Teller. After graduating in 2020, Rios continued studying under Isabel Lewis in the field of performing arts, earning a diploma in 2023.
Drawing on Judith Butler's theories, Rios understands the body as a mode of relationality in mutual dependence. Their work focuses on analyzing culturally constructed body relations, exploring how identities are shaped, societal power structures become visible, and cultural symbols become readable. Through this exploration, Rios seeks new narratives and contemporary equivalents of political phantasms, using artistic practice as a testing ground for utopian thinking, seeing, and speaking.
With the ongoing series FIGURE, FORM (since 2020), Rios collaborates with participants to shape queer narratives within photographic historiography. Moving beyond binary roles and objectifying gazes, the portrayed individuals use the space to define and construct their own image autonomously. The poses and movements in this portrait series appear contorted—they twist, stretch limbs, and challenge both the photographic frame and established viewing habits. The goal is to encourage an empowering reclamation of self, body, and representation.
Rios' work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Museum Folkwang Essen, Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig, Fotomuseum Winterthur, and FOTOHOF Salzburg. Furthermore, they have received numerous awards and nominations, including a nomination for the Bundespreis für Kunststudierende (2020) and the Contemporary German Photography Grant (2024).