Murder is the central theme of Teresa Margolles' work. The Mexican artist frequently uses materials that come from, or have been in contact with, dead human bodies, like blood or water used to wash a corpse. In her pictures, sculptures, installations, performances, videos, and photographs, Margolles explores the brutality of death in the context of the Mexican drug war and migration, to social injustice, gender hatred and gender discrimination. The exhibition at the Kunsthalle Krems focuses on a recent topical aspect of her work: the nearly hopeless situation of transgender prostitutes in Ciudad Juárez, the city with the highest rate of violent crime in Mexico.
