Art Basel | Feliza Bursztyn: Feature Stand D4

The Mayor Gallery participates in the Feature sector at Art Basel with a focused presentation dedicated to the Columbian sculptor Feliza Bursztyn (1933-1982).

Feliza Bursztyn was one of the most radical voices in post-war Latin American art. Born in Bogotá to Polish-Jewish immigrants, she transformed scrap metal and industrial debris into dynamic sculptures that challenged conventions of material, gender, and artistic practice. At a time when sculpture in Colombia remained overwhelmingly male-dominated, Bursztyn forged a singular path, creating works that were at once playful, rebellious, and deeply experimental.

Her breakthrough came in the 1960s with the celebrated Chatarras and later the kinetic Las Histéricas, motorised sculptures that introduced movement, sound, and performance into her practice. Despite critical acclaim, political persecution forced her into exile in 1981, and she died in Paris the following year at the age of forty-eight. Today, as museums and scholars continue to reassess her extraordinary legacy, Bursztyn is increasingly recognised as a pioneering figure whose work expanded the possibilities of sculpture and anticipated many of the concerns of contemporary art.