Felt tip pen and ballpoint pen on paper
29.7 x 21 cm


Since beginning her practice in the mid-1960s, Teresa Burga has eschewed categorization. Ranging from Pop to conceptual and new media, the artist was often overlooked by museums and galleries, despite her significant contributions to Peruvian art, not least as a member of the Grupo Arte Nuevo. After studying art at School of Art Catholic University of Peru in Lima and becoming frustrated with what she was taught there, she applied for, and won, a Fulbright scholarship. In 1968 she began attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she joined the Pop art movement, later returning to Peru, and obscurity. In 2007, her work resurfaced thanks to the work of two Peruvian researchers. Burga was soon shown in exhibitions across Peru and internationally. Until her death in 2021 she lived and worked in Lima. In this drawing from the series “Trajes típicos peruanos” (Typical Peruvian Costumes) from 2017, the artist continues to examine her home, here in the form of regional costumes. The bright colors, inclusion of woman as central figures, and explorations of environments are a thread that is carried throughout her work, from the 1960s through today. – Alicia Reuter