Addressing themes of biopolitics and gender, the Spanish artist Laia Abril structures her long-term projects in chapters, using photography, text, archives, video, and sound as means of expression.
Laia Abril, Ala Kachuu (Bride Kidnapping), Kyrgyzstan, 2019, Power Rape, On Rape
Laia Abril, born in 1986 in Spain, is a multidisciplinary artist working across photography, text, video, and sound. After earning a degree in journalism, she moved to New York to devote herself to photography and to develop narratives around sexuality, the body, psychology, and women’s rights, creating images that engage with what is uncomfortable and misunderstood.
After completing her project On Eating Disorders, which focuses on eating disorders, Laia Abril began a trilogy, A History of Misogyny, exploring the historical and contemporary mechanisms of the oppression of women.
The first chapter, On Abortion, documents the consequences of restrictive legislation on women through archives, testimonies, and legal documents. Presented at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2016 and winner of the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro, it was later exhibited, among others, at Foto Colectania in Barcelona in 2019 and at the Museum of Sex in New York in 2020. In 2024, it was included in the group exhibition Corps à corps at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
The second chapter, On Rape, continues this investigation by exploring the cultural and judicial structures surrounding sexual violence. It was presented in 2021 at FOAM in Amsterdam, in 2022 at the V&A in London, at Moderna Museet in 2025, and in the fall of 2026 at the ICP in New York. This project was awarded the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2020.
The final chapter, On Mass Hysteria, examines the social and medical construction of “hysteria” as a means of controlling female bodies. This project was presented at Photo Elysée in Lausanne and at the Finnish FotoMuseum in Helsinki in 2023, as well as at the BAL in Paris in 2025.