Tania BRUGUERA

Relatively new to the auction market, Cuban artist Tania BRUGUERA (b. 1968) focuses on performance and video art. Her work was noticed at various international exhibitions including the Venice Biennale in 2001 and 2005 and the 2002 Kassel dOCUMENTA. More recently, news of a different order has motivated the art world: a few days after the announcement of an easing of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba (17 December 2014), Tania BRUGUERA organized a performance in Havana which strongly irritated the Cuban authorities… The confiscation of her passport and her arrest precipitated a wave of indignation in the art world and the market itself responded, choosing a very symbolic work to set her new record: in May 2015 Phillips sold herDestierro¹ sculpture, evoking the problem of a split between politics and free artistic expression, i.e. precisely the problem she had been a victim of. From a low estimate of $40,000, the bidding rose to $81,250, in spite of her unremarkable auction history. In so doing, the market has altered her career path and declared its support. Bruguera, who recovered her passport on 10 July 2015, joined the permanent collections of the New York MoMA this year².