by Christy Rodriguez de Conte

Artist Angelica Neyra maneuvers beyond beauty to reveal the grotesque connection between the meat industry and the exploitation and objectification of women in society through an intriguingly visceral exhibit. “Carniceria” (butcher shop) is Neyra’s first solo exhibition at the 621 Gallery in Railroad Square, and its runs through March 29.

The United States has a history of building industry on living beings. Animal exploitation continues as one of the largest industries with powerful influences over economics and legislative policies in the United States. According to the North American Meat Institute, the meat and poultry industry accounts for 5.6% of the gross domestic product, whose market is expected to grow by 4.39% annually.

Animal Equality reports that there are approximately 250,000 farm factories in the US, many of which treat the animals poorly and house them in unimaginable conditions. The oppression faced by these animals due to the greedy acts of a powerful industry mirrors that of the oppression felt by women as “pieces of meat” in a system built on patriarchal ideals and an essence of machismo.

As women struggle to regain rights to their bodies and maintain bodily autonomy, their non-human counterparts suffer the realities of such fears. Milk cows are artificially inseminated at young ages over and over again, only to be slaughtered by the age of 5, only a third of their life lived. 

The world delivers horrors, but the beauty of life is that within it all, an intelligent, informed, creative woman like Angelica Neyra can witness this in real-time and choose to make wicked, visceral art in response.

In “Carniceria” Neyra uses sculpture to highlight the exploitation and expectations placed on women’s bodies and the abuse experienced by primarily female cows subject to growth hormones, fed plastic, and whose instincts are controlled, making their quality of life horrific.

“This series of work explores the ties between meat and masculinity, taking inspiration from my Hispanic upbringing and the hypermasculinity within Hispanic cultures coined as “machismo,” Neyra said. “The materials used are to highlight the cruelties within factory farms and the geo-social-political effects of factory farming.”

So, how does one manipulate the grotesque to create space for the beautiful? According to Neyra, that has never been the goal. Instead, she proposes to manipulate that which is beautiful to reveal the grotesque realities of such fanciful facades.