Sra. Gaivota – Pivô

Mónica Heller

Mónica Heller (b. 1975, Buenos Aires) is a cartoonist, painter and video artist. Throughout her career she has created 2D and 3D animations, using both amateur production strategies and CGI models taken from open-source and free libraries. The self-taught nature of her approach to digital technology and the artisanal dedication she puts into each of her pieces laid the foundations for a DIY work ethic that characterizes and singles out both her varied production and the place she occupies within the Argentine art scene. Her works have been exhibited individually and collectively around the world. Among the several awards she received in recent years, the following stand out: the First Prize of the Andreani Award (2017), the Stimulus Award of the 72nd Salón Nacional Castagnino + Macro Museum (2017) and the Third Prize of the Fortabat Award (2021). She has represented the Argentina at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2022. Participated in Pivô Satélite 2023

Mónica Heller

Mrs. Seagull

Satellite 2023

Sra. Gaivota (Mrs. Seagull)

Since her first videos, in 2006, Mónica Heller has used animation as a method to create fantastic scenarios in which the characters that inhabits these worlds, humanized animals and cartoonish humanoids, address issues of contemporary life through humor, absurdity and repetition.

The videos Il piccione parlante (the talking pigeon), presented at the Argentine Pavilion of the Venice Biennale 2022 and Sra. Gaivota, commissioned for Pivô Satellite #6 in 2023, are part of a series featuring talking birds that have adapted to urban life. A pigeon in Venice and a seagull in São Paulo, animals known to all, which inhabit most cities, subsist by consuming human waste and are highly adaptable to different contingencies.

In Sra. Gaivota the artist introduces us to a transitional world, where a seagull with prominent eyes and a beak of great plasticity -which seems to have acquired a certain wisdom through its travels- challenges us by talking about food, war, husbands, freedom, ATMs, trust, vacations… Seagull can easily cross borders, since her passport is not verified and she has no profile picture.

– Violeta Mansilla

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Sra. Gaivota (Sra. Gaviota)

Desde sus primeros videos en 2006, Mónica Heller utiliza la animación como medio para crear escenarios fantásticos en donde a través del humor, el absurdo y la repetición, los personajes que habitan esos mundos, animales humanizados y humanoides caricaturescos, abordan temas de la vida contemporánea.

Los videos Il piccione parlante (la paloma parlante), presentado en el Pabellón Argentino de la Bienal de Venecia 2022 y Sra. Gaivota, comisionada por Pivô Satélite #6 en 2023, son parte de una serie que tiene como protagonistas a aves parlantes que se han adaptado a la vida urbana. Una paloma en Venecia y una gaviota en San Pablo, animales conocidos por todes, que habitan la mayoría de las ciudades, que subsisten consumiendo desechos humanos y que poseen una gran adaptabilidad ante distintas contingencias.

En Sra. Gaivota, la artista nos introduce en un mundo que está en transición, en donde una gaviota con ojos prominentes y un pico de gran plasticidad, que parece haber adquirido cierta sabiduría con sus viajes, nos interpela hablándonos de la comida, la guerra, los maridos, la libertad, los cajeros automáticos, la confianza, las vacaciones…Gaviota trasciende las fronteras con facilidad, ya que su pasaporte no es verificado y no tiene foto de perfil.

– Violeta Mansilla