Valeria Arendar (b. 1994)
Argentinian-Mexican visual artist. She is an MFA in Art Studies with a specialization in Art History and Critical Theory from Universidad Iberoamericana, where she is also part of the Technical Council of the Art Department. She studied Photography at the Escuela Activa de Fotografía and earned a degree in Social Communication from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. She has been awarded the Jóvenes Creadores grant from the Sistema de Apoyos a la Creación y Proyectos Culturales (2021-2025). In 2019, she completed the Photography Production Seminar at Centro de la Imagen.
Her artistic practice has received international recognition, with nominations for the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award (2022) and the 6x6 North and Central America Talents programme by World Press Photo (2020). Her work explores the intersection between fiction, politics, and material imagination, focusing on artistic practice, the study of the image and media, and the potential of visual narratives to challenge reality.
She has collaborated with publications such as Fishe Eye Magazine, Chiquilla Te Quiero, Patronato de Arte Contemporáneo, Fiiiirst, Letargo Revista, PhMuseum, Discarded Magazine, and Otros Diálogos. In addition to her artistic practice, she has taught photography and visual arts at institutions such as Centro de la Imagen, Escuela Activa de Fotografía, Gimnasio de Arte y Cultura, and the Secretaría de Cultura de Yucatán.
She is a member of Foto-Féminas and Women Photograph.
Represented by Open Doors Gallery
Education
2023 - 2025
2020 - 2021
2019 - 2020
2014 - 2018
2013 - 2015
MFA, Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA)
Proyecto Imaginario, Argentina.
Photographic Production Seminar, Centro de la Imagen.
Bachelor's Degree Social Comunication, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana .
Photography, Escuela Activa de Fotografía, CDMX (EAF).
Solo exhibitons
2021
2021
2019
Dos Veces Maria, Fonderia 20.9 - Phmuseum, Verona, Italia.
Dos Veces Maria, Budapest Photo Festival.
La Dignidad Rebelde - Galería Utópicas, CDMX, México.
Grants and awards
2024 - 2025
2023 - 2025
2023
2021-2022
2021
2021
2021
2021
2021
2020
2020
2019
Young Creators with Trajectory, FONCA (winner)
Academic excellence grant - Universidad Iberoamericana (winner)
Gomma Grant (Honorable Mention)
Young Creators, FONCA (winner)
Bird in Flight 21' (finalist)
OD Photo Prize 2021 (Judge's Pick by Steve MacLeod)
Intersection, PhMuseum - Founderia 20.9 (winner)
Descubrimiento PhotoEspaña 2021
Nuestra Mirada of PoyLatam
New Generation - Phmuseum (Honorable Mention)
Phmuseum 2020 Woman Photographers Grant (finalist)
National Photography of Human Rights (second place)
Nominations
2022
2020
Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award, LEIKA.
6x6 North And Central America Talents, World Press Photo programme.
Collective exhibitions & festivals
2024
2024
2024
2024
2024
2023
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2021
2021
2021
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2019
2019
2018
2018
11th Argentine Documentary Photography Biennial.
Indian Photo Festival w/ Melka Collective, Hyderabad, India.
Premio Javier Ramírez Limón FotoSeptiembre w/ Melka Collective, Museo de Arte de Sonora, Mexico
PhMuseum International Photo Festival w/ Melka Collective, PhMuseum Days, Bologna, Italy
Other Spaces, curated by Loop Raum, B-Part Am Gleisdreieck Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Concurso nacional de Identidad, Cuartoscuro 2023, Fundación Marso, Mexico City.
Creación en movimiento, FONCA, México.
Beirut Image Festival, Beirut.
10+1 , Centro de las Artes de San Agustín Etla, Oaxaca, México.
Le monde vu par les femmes d'Amérique latine, Paris, France.
International exhibition of Bird in Flight Prize finalists - Lituania
On Body and Soul - online exhibition: PhMuseum & Bird in Flight.
Political Statement - LoosenArt, Rome, Italy.
Open Doors Gallery's Winter Exhibition, London, UK.
Concebir, decir, nombrar, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City.
Conections by PEP - Photographic Exploration Project, Berlín, Germany.
Fotógrafas en México: Somos una y somos muchas
Emerging Mexican Photography Tbilisi Photo Festival, Georgia.
Mujeres en el Territorio, Metro Zapata, Mexico City.
Indian Photo Festival at State Gallery of Art, Hyderabad, India.
Feminist Art Colective, Toronto, Canadá.
Quinta Edición Feminasty at La Nana, Mexico City, México.
Utopías - Galería Utópicas, Mexico City, México.
Festival Crónicas de la Memoria, Antigua, Guatemala.
Encuentro Fotográfico México, México.
Selected press & interviews
2025
2025
2023
2022
2022
2022
2021
2021
2021
2020
2020
2020
2019
2019
"Valeria Arendar et Eleana Konstantellos : histoire fragmentée d’espionnage au Mexique", Fishe Eye Magazine (france)
"The dice was loaded from the start: entre la ficción, la Historia y el espionaje" - Rara Plataforma (Argentina)
"The Annihilation of Space and Time", publish by Zrfdbck, Japan.
Dictature, torture et fuite: Valeria Arendar part sur les traces de sa mère militante, Fishe Eye Magazine.
Revertir la historia como un acto de resistencia, Letargo Revista (Chile)
Ones to watch in 2022 (artsy)
Two Times Mary en Discarded Magazine (versión en línea e impresa).
Fleeing Argentina During the Military Dictatorship, In Focus: Latin American Female Photographers.
Dos Veces María en Editor's top projects of 2020 - Phmuseum
Bitácora de Procesos: Seminario de Producción Fotográfica, Centro de la Imagen - México.
La Dignidad Rebelde en Protocolo para Juzgar con Perspectiva de Género
Mexico city: cradles of empires editado por Reaktion Books del Reino Unido.
La Dignidad Rebelde - Revista Chilango, versión impresa.
Seis Palindromas en Otros Diálogos de El Colegio de México, versión digital.