Alejandra Fenochio (Buenos Aires 1968) started to paint in the late 1980s. She was involved in the countercultural scene that sprouted in Buenos Aires after the end of Argentina’s military dictatorships. At the time she painted stunning nude portraits of her friends from the late night clubs she frequented. Dancers, drag queens, performers, writers were depicted pushing the boundaries of the tradition of great classical portraiture, where the inner life and psychological load of each person was craftily conveyed.

She was studio assistant to Leon Ferrari for many years, sharing political views and an interest in working with underserved communities. She moved to the working class neighborhood of La Boca, where she raised her family and was involved in her community’s grass-roots activism, continuing to actively produce artworks, mostly small paintings which are chronicles of her every-day life: the semi-abandoned shores of the Rio de la Plata where local flora meets industrial detritus; her neighbors; moons in skies throughout the years; the organic vegetables her husband distributes in her community. She also produced a series of seemingly realistic large scale paintings of homeless people in night time urban settings —which are actually complex imaginary scenes.

Despite her prolific production, for may years she deliberately avoided active participation in the professional artworld. In 2021 she was invited to present a large exhibition of her work in Buenos Aires, in the context of Bienal Sur, which led to the discovery of her artistic production by a wider audience and to being awarded a major art prize, Primer Premio Salón Nacional de Pintura.