Laia Abril: On Rape and Institutional Failure at the International Center of Photography

From October 15, 2026 to January 11, 2027, the International Center of Photography on the Lower East Side presents Laia Abril: On Rape and Institutional Failure. The show centers on the second chapter of A History of Misogyny, Abril's ongoing project on violence against women across history. It is the first time the project has been exhibited in the United States, and it is curated by Sara Ickow, ICP's associate director of exhibitions.

Abril, born in 1986, is a research-based artist who works in photography, text, video and sound, with a focus on biopolitics and gender. Her work has been shown in more than 25 countries and belongs to collections including Centre Pompidou, Photo Elysée, Fotomuseum Winterthur, MACBA, Reina Sofía, MNAC and the V&A. Her books include The Epilogue, Lobismuller and the A History of Misogyny series: On Abortion, On Rape and On Mass Hysteria. Her awards include the Foam Paul Huf Award, the RPS Hood Medal, an Aperture Best Book Award and Spain's National Photography Award.

The project began with a 2018 case in Spain, her home country. Five men raped a young woman and were released on bail. The charges were later set at sexual harassment, which carries a lighter sentence, and footage the men had filmed was used to argue the victim had consented. The outcome set off the largest feminist protest in Spain's history and calls to rewrite the country's sexual assault laws. Abril set out to understand why justice fails on this scale, and how assumptions, myths, cultural influences and laws can protect offenders, whether ordinary citizens or people in power.

The exhibition draws on research in law, history, psychology and politics. Along the way Abril found maps, architecture, sculptures, medical devices, weapons and other objects tied to sexual violence. They appear here as plain photographs she calls "conceptual portraits," which show how laws and customs fed rape culture over time. A key series pictures garments that stand in for institutions, shown with first-person testimony; the uniforms represent every victim and survivor an institution betrays, past, present and future. Sound, video and installation work extend the display, moving attention from victims to the structures that fail them.

The project was first shown in 2020, shortly after the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men. With the tenth anniversary of #MeToo approaching, Ickow says she hopes the show gives visitors room to reflect on accountability and justice. ICP provides a link to resources and hotlines for visitors who feel distressed. The museum's main entrance is at 84 Ludlow Street.