Teresa Margolles

40 km, 2014

Photograph, 21 photographs 30 x 40 cm each

In this series of photographs, Teresa Margolles documents small altars placed under trees along the 40-kilometres between Culiacán and Playa Altata in Sinaloa, Mexico. Built by relatives and friends, the altars honour victims of violence who have died along this road, which is controlled by various criminal groups. The images are tellingly displayed in three rows of seven, each row depicting a stretch of the road, and each stretch belonging to a drug cartel. Infamous and dangerous, the road cuts across the north-western part of Mexico. Margolles’ images highlight the contrast between the symbols of death represented by the altars and the life force inherent in the trees.

Technical details

Original title:: 40 km
Registration number:: 5389
Artist:: Margolles, Teresa
Date created:: 2014
Date acquired:: 2016
Fonds:: MACBA Collection. MACBA Foundation
Object type:: Photograph
Media:: C-Print
Dimensions:: 21 photographs 30 x 40 cm each (height x width)
Edition number:: Edició de 6 + 1 P.A.
Credits:: MACBA Collection. MACBA Foundation. Long-term loan of Álvaro López de Lamadrid
Copyright:: © Teresa Margolles
It has accessibility resources:: No

The MACBA Collection features Catalan, Spanish and international art and, although it includes works from the 1920s onwards, its primary focus is on the period between the 1960s and the present.

For more information on the work or the artist, please consult MACBA's Library. To request a loan of the work, please write to colleccio [at] macba.cat.

If you need a high resolution image of the work, you must submit an image loan request.