Fernanda Laguna ( Hurlingham, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1972) is a visual artist, writer, activist, and cultural producer. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential Argentine artists of her generation, known for a multifaceted practice that centers on visual art while extending to acclaimed poetry and fiction, the creation of alternative cultural spaces, and a sustained social practice carried out for over two decades in the marginalized neighborhood of Villa Fiorito. 

In 2000, Laguna co-founded Belleza y Felicidad (“Beauty and Happiness”), an artist-run gallery and low-cost publishing initiative that marked a turning point in the development of contemporary art in Argentina. Active for nine years, the project became a vital platform for experimentation and collaboration. In 2003, she established a parallel branch in Villa Fiorito, conceived as a space for community-based art projects and workshops for children, which also evolved into a hub for feminist activism in an area deeply affected by gender violence. 

Laguna has continued to generate a wide range of alternative cultural initiatives. Among them are Eloísa Cartonera, a groundbreaking collective that brought together writers and cardboard collectors (cartoneros) in a model later replicated across the world; and Comedor Gourmet, a soup kitchen serving nutritious, high-quality meals, embodying the principle of the right to pleasure even under conditions of dire poverty. 

Her work is defined by several recurring concerns: erotic desire expressed from a woman’s perspective; spontaneity and the irrational; the appropriation of popular crafts and local iconography; an attraction to fragile, makeshift materials in dialogue with vernacular modernist traditions such as geometric abstraction and metaphysical painting; and a persistent awareness of social inequality—all articulated through an immediacy of personal expression. She describes her artistic practice as “the path of the heart,” emphasizing her faith in emotion and intuition as guiding forces. 

Beyond her visual practice, Laguna has published numerous poetry collections and novels under the pseudonym Dalia Rosetti, among the first openly queer literary voices in Argentina. Her poetry has been translated into English and published in the United States, and her most recent novel appeared with Random House. She co-authored a book on Argentina’s contemporary feminist movement with gender theorist Cecilia Palmeiro. 

Laguna has participated in the Mercosul Biennial (Porto Alegre, Brazil), the Cuenca Biennial (Ecuador), Casa Tomada (Sitelines, SITE Santa Fe), and A Universal History of Infamy at LACMA, among other international exhibitions. The low-cost publishing program of Belleza y Felicidad was the focus of an exhibition at the SculptureCenter, New York, in 2015. In 2020, she presented a solo exhibition at the Institute for Contemporary Art (Richmond, Virginia), focused on her paintings from 2010–2020 and featuring Mareadas en la Marea (“High on the Tide”), a collaborative project archiving artifacts and documentation from recent feminist demonstrations in Argentina. In 2022, The Drawing Center, New York, presented an anthological solo exhibition curated by Rosario Guiraldes. 

Her works are held in major public collections, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York); Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid; Jorge M. Pérez Collection/Estudio 23, Miami; Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires; Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); CA2M, Madrid; Kadist Foundation, San Francisco; Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. 

A major retrospective of her work, jointly organized by the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, and the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), was inaugurated on March 12, 2026, in Buenos Aires and will then travel to Madrid, where it will open in March 2027.