Laia Abril: On Rape and Institutional Failure

Laia Abril: On Rape and Institutional Failure
Oct 15, 2026 – Jan 4, 2027

United States United States — Art Center
84 Ludlow Street
New York, NY 10002

The International Center of Photography presents Laia Abril: On Rape and Institutional Failure, on view from 15 October 2026 through 11 January 2027 at 84 Ludlow Street in New York. The exhibition marks the first United States showing of the second chapter in Abril's ongoing project A History of Misogyny, a research-based investigation into systemic violence against women across centuries.

The work emerged from a 2018 case in Spain, where five men raped a young woman and were released on bail, ultimately charged with sexual harassment rather than assault. Video footage filmed by the perpetrators was used to claim the victim had consented. The ruling sparked the largest feminist protest in Spanish history and coincided with the global rise of the #MeToo movement. Laia Abril, based in Barcelona, began researching why institutions repeatedly fail to deliver justice on such a scale.

The exhibition weaves together photographs, compiled testimonies, archival materials, and objects presented as what Abril calls "conceptual portraits." Maps, architecture, sculptures, medical devices, and weapons related to sexual violence appear as straightforward photographs that visualize laws and customs contributing to rape culture over time. A key series depicts garments laid out against plain backgrounds, each uniform standing in for an institution—Church, military, school, marriage—that has betrayed victims and survivors.

Curated by Sara Ickow, associate director of exhibitions at ICP, the installation includes sound and video components that shift focus from individual victims to the structures that enable impunity. Abril's practice draws on disciplines including law, history, psychology, and politics, grounding each image in documented evidence rather than sensationalized narrative. Her work avoids victim-blaming by addressing social accountability and the transgenerational trauma produced by institutional silence.

Abril, born in 1986, has exhibited in over 25 countries and holds work in collections including the Centre Pompidou, Reina Sofía, and the V&A Museum. She has received the Foam Paul Huf Award, the RPS Hood Medal, and Spain's National Photography Award. As the tenth anniversary of #MeToo approaches, the exhibition offers a moment to reflect on how little systemic change has occurred, and how deeply misogyny remains embedded in the institutions meant to protect.

Image: Laia Abril, Ala Kachuu (Bride Kidnapping), Kyrgyzstan, 2019 © Laia Abril, Courtesy Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris


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