DELILAH MONTOYA
WOMEN BOXERS THE NEW WARRIORS
Gelatin silver prints
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ABOUT THE SERIES:
Women Boxers: The New Warriors, an exhibition and book project, portrays professional female boxers as malcriadas. Funded in part by the University of Houston Small Grants Program and the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County, this work was exhibited during FotoFest 2006 at Project Row House and later at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary in Dallas, Texas. Dee Mitchell wrote a review for Art in America. Three prints from the series were purchased by the Sheldon Museum of Art for their permanent collection and were published in Encounters: Photographs from the Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska Press, 2013. Two prints, "Terri 'Lil Loca' Lynn Cruz" and "Pink" were selected for the traveling exhibit, "Infinite Mirror: Images of American Identity," produced by Artrain Inc. The Museum of Fine Arts Houston acquired the print, Audrey in her Corner, for their photography collection. A selection of photographs from the series, were featured in the exhibition, Body Armor, at MOMA’s PS1 in New York. A catalogue was published.
By crossing the ropes and getting into the ring, these professional athletes enter into the bastions of manliness to confront a brutal sport. Many, in fact, are appalled by the violent sport of boxing and believe it should be banned. But these women, determined to box, turn their backs on these opinions. Title IX of the Civil Rights Act and the feminist movement gave them the right, and they have taken it willingly. Female boxers fight because they can – they are professionally trained, and the boxing rules are now modified to allow women athletes to participate in this sanctioned combat.
