The Pocket Gallery. Monstrous Femininity Exhibition: Interview with the Artist. Alejandro Montero Bravo.
After being part of Monstrous Femininity exhibition, curated by Marcela Villanueva, Alejandro Montero Bravo reflects on their art in an interview with Myriam Martínez Gómez.
Meet the artist
Alejandro Montero Bravo is “an artist who focuses on aesthetic: how it affect our lives and our personalities“. “I get inspired by my surroundings, my intuition and feelings”. “My work is a way to reclaim the dominant vision of art, which has historically belonged to white men. Their personal experiences are intellectualized by default. My concept is born from my own history as a non-binary person“. “Being able to work from a personal perspective and then translate it into a collective experience has been very empowering for me”.
“I like creating things that deviate from the norm. I like being polarizing. I don’t think it’s difficult to be political in the art world when your main theme is femininity. Whether you intend it to be or not.” “Nowadays, the distinction between masculine and feminine aesthetics is a daily debate. It affects our bodies; it’s a way of controlling people“. “When I first presented this piece here in Berlin, a woman yelled at me. She accused me of portraying women as monsters. And I think provoking that kind of strong reaction is part of the point”.
“I’m confident in what I do, so it doesn’t bother me too much if people don’t like my art“. “It’s important to get used to seeing things we don’t like. I think about that a lot when I work on artpieces for public spaces”. “It’s part of the human experience. We are used to controlling everything, but there has to be room for both the beautiful and the ugly. Whatever those terms mean to each individual”.
Monstrous Femininity Exhibition and The Pocket Gallery
“This work deals with femininity as an aesthetic. Part of that is always being watched. People pass by the piece while it is ‘dressing itself’ in front of them. It’s poetic, putting on its true skin while being exposed. There is no safety, no separation from the audience”. “I think ‘Monstrous Femininity’ also unintentionally reflects queerness: being different and demanding attention”. “Being powerful by taking up space but also vulnerable to how others react”. “Using clay was important. It’s a fragile material that looks strong, and I wanted to reflect that”.
“This pink monster is now the biggest thing in the reception of Gat Point Charlie Hotel, and that’s incredible”.
“I always work size-specific, so when something more challenging or unconventional — like this — comes up, I think it makes the art more compelling. What first caught my interest about The Pocket Gallery was the curved walls. I felt like placing the piece inside a fitting room (which is kind of sexy), while evoking a subtle sense of restriction, because the sculpture fills most of it. The installation looks so different in the space that it feels like another world inside the hotel: it’s enclosed, the lighting is different, the pink colors…”
Creative process and versatility
“I like to explore different materials depending on the project, but color is always a key element in my artwork. We shouldn’t let color be reduced to a mere capitalistic tool, something used in advertisements to grab attention. That’s part of why it’s often seen as ‘too much’ or described as garish”. “Nature is full of colors, and even if you don’t like them, they make you feel something. I want people to feel something new when they see my work“.
“My public art practice develops within a Swedish context“. “City planning tends to lean towards masculine aesthetics. It lacks warmth and softness, often favoring hard lines and black-and-white tones”. “I follow the required guidelines, although I always try to introduce some contrast: a touch of fantasy and magic”. “You have to find a way to prove that even a small disruption is important. That is something with meaning, that it’s more than just visually pleasing”. “Depending on the space — whether it’s a library or a hospital —, I approach it differently. But I’ve always believed that art should be a way to escape reality. And that relates to the queer experience as well. I think being queer is also about searching for something more beautiful in this world”.
Horror, queer femininity and aesthetic disruption
“Berlin, like Sweden, has a certain harshness in its aesthetic. But it also has a sense of madness and grittiness that reveals there’s more within the city. There is emotion on the streets — people shouting, graffiti-covered walls, quirky buildings —. In northern Europe, these things get hidden”. “When I arrived here, I let horror influence my work for the first time. I’ve always loved the genre, movies like ‘Alien’ or ‘Scream’, but it wasn’t until I experienced the chaos of Berlin that I realized I had never explored it in my art”. “Previously, I focused more on pop culture influences, divas and glamorous aesthetics. Now, I want to combine both: explore the boundaries between femininity and eeriness“. “And that often appears when femininity becomes sexual, excessive, or bodily uncomfortable: what is deemed ‘ugly’ by certain standards”.
“Femininity, especially queer femininity, is a force of nature. It screams in your face, makes people uncomfortable. Looking at horror movies, I find it interesting how bodies are represented when they become dangerous — even pregnancy is often framed in a way meant to disturb. There’s nothing more unsettling than a woman acting crazy, a body provoking disgust. Femininity is always expected to be clean and beautiful”.
Future plans
“I want my art to be beautiful, but beauty is not its only purpose. Just like decoration is traditionally seen as feminine, but that doesn’t mean it lacks meaning”. “I like to represent femininity alongside power: on its own terms, not just as the opposite of masculinity“. “No matter the material or technique, my goal is to create powerful art that embraces aesthetics and knows its place. I want femininity to stand with strength, as its own thing”.
“I’m currently working on another sculpture. And there’s a lot of technological development in sculpture now, with 3D printing and so on, but I think, in the future, people will long for handmade objects. Flaws make things feel real; not mass-produced. We’ve seen perfect sculptures for years, but in the end, craft is what will endure, I think”. “I used clay for the first time for ‘Monstruos Femininity’, and after six months working with it with my hands, entering a near-meditative state during the process, I think I will keep using it”. “Trying new things is innate to my creative process. I love experimenting, but it feels exhausting sometimes. I’ve had to find comfort in that, not let it overwhelm me”.
About The Pocket Gallery
The Pocket Gallery is a micro-gallery based in Berlin, dedicated to showcasing contemporary art in an unconventional, radically intimate format. With only one square meter of space, it challenges traditional exhibition models and redefines how we engage with art in urban environments.
Founded with the belief that artistic expression should not be limited by scale or access, The Pocket Gallery is open 24/7, free to the public, and designed to provoke thought, emotion, and conversation in a setting that is both minimal and powerful.
Each exhibition is curated to respond to the constraints—and possibilities—of the space, transforming a small footprint into a site of expansive ideas. The gallery aims to support emerging and underrepresented voices, offering a platform for artistic experimentation that is accessible, inclusive, and deeply rooted in Berlin’s evolving cultural landscape.
Curated by Karne Kunst and hosted by Gat Point Charlie Hotel, The Pocket Gallery operates at the intersection of hospitality and art, inviting both locals and travelers to encounter contemporary art beyond the conventional white cube.
Myriam Martínez Gómez
