Julia Montilla

Julia Montilla’s work is interested in the building of gender, sentimental and sexual stereotypes in relation to mass communication industry through different media (video, photography, installations, books, web projects…). In recent years, the artist has dedicated several projects to highlighting and condemning job insecurity and exclusion from the workplace. She has also worked with people who are discriminated for “mental health” reasons.

The project Cara B del turisme de Barcelona (The B-side of tourism in Barcelona) (2017) blows the whistle on the exploitation of subcontracted cleaners in Barcelona’s luxury hotels. Most of them are women, because caregiving jobs are clearly feminised, and often foreigners without work permits. The project involved the creation of a militant “counter-map” in association with the women concerned, who have organised themselves in Las Kellys (for “las que limpian” [those who clean]), an association in order to defend their rights.