Allegra Pacheco (b. 1986, Costa Rica) is a visual artist, photographer, film director, and passionate traveler, whose work has been exhibited across Japan, Europe, and the Americas. Pacheco’s diverse artistic practice spans painting, photography, ceramics, sculpture, installation, and, most recently, documentary film.
Her work has garnered international attention, with exhibitions in prestigious museums and solo showcases, including a recent solo exhibition at the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo in Costa Rica, and debut appearances at the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California.
From 2016 to 2021, Pacheco focused primarily on directing her first feature documentary, Salaryman. This film delves into the lives of Japanese office workers, offering a profound exploration of overwork and self-discovery, set against the vibrant backdrop of Tokyo. Featuring a dynamic score by James Iha (co-founder of Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle), Salaryman blends performance art with a punk documentary aesthetic, challenging viewers to reconsider the toll of work culture. The film has been showcased at multiple acclaimed film festivals, earning accolades for Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Score, and more.
Parallel to her work in documentary film, Pacheco exhibited extensively between 2008 and 2018, with solo shows at MoMo Gallery and Just Another Space in Tokyo, LAMB Arts and London Newcastle in London, as well as Despacio, Klaus Steinmetz Contemporary, and Vienti4/siete Gallery in Costa Rica. In 2012, Pacheco exhibited her first major installation, Boobs—a series of breast-shaped sculptures made in collaboration with women from La Carpio, Costa Rica, addressing feminist issues through playful yet provocative art.
Pacheco has participated in esteemed artist residency programs, including LAMB Arts in London (2015) and The Backers Foundation and AIT Residence Program in Tokyo (2013), among others.
In 2014, her first photography book, 88 Days in Japan, was published by Editorial Germinal, debuting at the Salon du Livre in Paris.
Pacheco’s work is held in several significant collections, including the Mori Collection (private collection of the Mori Art Museum owners, Tokyo), Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson (Madrid), Francisco Cantos (Chair in ARCO, Madrid), Takeo Obayashi (Tokyo), and in the Museo Neomudejar (Madrid), among others.
Awards
-2021 Best director at Cambridge Film Festival
-2021 Exceptional merit at WRPN Women’s International FF
-2021 Best documentary at Austin Arthouse Film Festival
-2021 Best international documentary at Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival
-2021 Best documentary at Best score at DOCLA Film Festival
-2012 2nd Place at Valoarte X
Film Festivals
2022 Camera Japan, Rotterdam, NETHERLANDS
2022 Japannual, Vienna, AUSTRIA
2022 Workers Unite Film Festival, New York, U.S.
2022 XIV Centralamerican Cinematography Cycle, Vienna, AUSTRIA
2022 CRFIC Costa Rica Film Festival, San José, COSTA RICA
2022 Nippon Connection Film Festival, Frankfurt, GERMANY
2022 Toronto Women Film Festival, Toronto, CANADÁ
2021 Sidney Women’s International Film Festival, Sidney, AUSTRALIA
2022 DIFF Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, Dublin, IRELAND
2021 LA Independent Women Film Awards, Los Ángeles, U.S
2021 ARFF Berlin International Awards, Berlin, GERMANY
2021 Harlem International Film Festival, New York, U.S.
2021 Philadelphia Latino Film Festival, Philadelphia, U.S.
2021 Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, London, ENGLAND
2021 Lift-Off Global Network Tokyo, Tokyo, JAPAN
2021 Cambridge Film Festival, Cambridge, ENGLAND
2021 WRPN Women’s International Film Festival, Toronto, CANADÁ
2021 Austin Arthouse Film Festival, Austin, U.S.
2021 Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival, Mallorca, SPAIN
2021 DOCLA Film Festival, Los Ángeles, U.S.
Solo Exhibitions
2024 “Dear Salaryman;”, Museo La Neomudejar, Madrid, SPAIN
2023 “Dear Salaryman;”, MADC Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, San José, COSTA RICA
2023 “Dear Salaryman;” Momo Gallery Ryogoku, Tokyo, JAPAN.
2023 “Salaryman”, TOP MUSEUM-Tokyo Photographic Museum, screening and artist talk, Tokyo, JAPAN.
2023 “Salaryman”, Private viewing at Yu-Un Guesthouse, Takeo Obayashi Museum, Tokyo, JAPAN.
2023 “Salaryman”, Geidai Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, JAPAN.
2022 "Imaginary American Landscapes", Album Sn. Clemente, California, U.S.
2018 “DIY”, Vienti4/siete Gallery, San José, COSTA RICA
2015 “Bedrock”, LAMB Arts, London, U.K.
2015 “Micro Macro”, London New Castle Exhibition Space, London, U.K.
2013 “Boobs in Japan”, MoMo Gallery, Tokyo, JAPAN.
2012 “Boobs”, Despacio, San José, COSTA RICA.
2011 “Tokyoscapes”, Just Another Space, Tokyo, JAPAN.
2008 “Autorretratos”, Klaus Steinmetz Contemporary, San José, COSTA RICA.
Group shows
2024 “Strike Fast, Dance Lightly,” Norton Museum in collaboration with FLAG Foundation, FL, U.S.
2024 “Interconectada/ Latina Contemporary Art” Museum of Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.
2024 “Seguimos,” Craig Krull Gallery, LA, CA, U.S.
2023 “Imaginary Landscapes”, Compound, Yucca Valley, U.S.
2023 “Pi Art Festival”, Museum of Punta Islita, Guanacaste, COSTA RICA
2022 "Queremos Pintar", Museo Regional de San Ramón, Alajuela, COSTA RICA
2022 "NY Latinamerican Art Triennial", Pace University Art Gallery, New York, U.S.
2018 “Tokyo A La Carte: The Backers Foundation and AIT Residence Programme, Memories of 10 years”,Tomio Koyama Gallery and ShugoArts Gallery, Tokio, JAPAN
2016 Fredric Snizer Gallery, Miami, U.S.
2016 JUSTMAD7 Art Fair, Klaus Steinmetz Contemporary, Madrid, SPAIN
2015 ARTMAD Art Fair, Materna y Herencia Gallery, Madrid, SPAIN
2015 JUSTMAD6 Art Fair, Materna y Herencia Gallery, Madrid, SPAIN
2015 SUMMA Contemporary Art Fair, Materna y Herencia Gallery, Matadero, Madrid, SPAIN
2015 Estampa Art Fair, Materna y Herencia Gallery, Matadero, Madrid, SPAN
2014 “Wimbledon College of Art Degree Show”, Wimbledon College of Art, London, U.K.
2013 “Divided against ourselves”, Yamamoto Gendai Gallery, Tokio, JAPAN
2013 “Relative and Objective”, Takeo Obayashi Collection Viewing, Tokyo, JAPAN.
2013 “Threads”, The Rag Factory, London, U.K.
2012 “ESFOTO”, Centro Cultural de España - La Casa Tomada, San Salvador, EL SALVADOR
2012 Valoarte X, San José, COSTA RICA.
2012 “30 Años Jacob Karpio”, Galería Andrómeda, San José, COSTA RICA
2011 Eigenes/Fremdes Leipzig, GERMANY
2011 Valoarte IX, San José, COSTA RICA.
2010 New York Photo Festival, Dumbo Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
2010 SCOPE Art Fair, White Box Gallery, Miami, U.S.
2010 “Another Art Show”, Submerged Art Gallery, New Jersey, U.S.
2010 “Mentors”, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, U.S.
2009 Fountain Art Fair, Miami, U.S.
2009 Valoarte V, Galería Nacional, San José, COSTA RICA
2008 Yes Gallery, Brooklyn, U.S.
2008 ARTBO, Bogotá, COLOMBIA
2008 Valoarte IV, Galería Nacional, San José, COSTA RICA.
Artist Residencies
2024 Still Life Ceramics, Spring Residency
2018 Paradise Air, Tokyo, Japan
2015 LAMB Arts artist-in-residence program, London, U.K.
2013 The Backers Foundation and AIT Residence Programme, Tokyo, JAPAN
Highlighted collections
Beryl Lacoste *Private Collection, USA
Fundacion Massaveu, Madrid, SPAIN
Francisco Cantos *Private Collection, Madrid, SPAIN
Mrs. Mori (Mori Musem) *Private collection, Tokyo, JAPAN
Takeo Obayashi *Private Collection, Tokyo, JAPAN
Presence in Artbooks
*In Production Salaryman Book, Vienna, AUSTRIA.
*In Production Abya Yala, NY Latinamerican Art Triennial, New York, U.S.
2023 Dear Salaryman Newspaper, Tokio, JAPAN.
2014 88 Days in Japan, Editorial Germinal, Tokio, JAPAN.
Academic studies
2014 Masters in Fine Arts, Wimbledon College of Art, University of Arts of London, UNITED KINGDOM
2012 BFA Photography, School of Visual Arts, New York, U.S.