Desperate Times

Born from the clash between a Catholic school upbringing and the punk scene, Wasted Rita’s critical, confessional practice reflects her love-hate connection with life. Blending sarcasm, brutal honesty, realism, and playful naivety, her work challenges viewers and the established formalism in contemporary art. Her text-based pieces echo urban walls layered with casual inscriptions and interventions, blurring boundaries between institutional and informal space. In Desperate Times, she recontextualises proverbs, questioning their relevance in today’s socio-political landscape. Through a fabricated street surface, tradition is subverted rather than dismissed. The piece also questions the evolving definition of “street artist”, reflecting on how wisdom, myth, and public expression evolve, and continue to shape collective thought. Wasted Rita has exhibited in Dismaland, Weston-Super-Mare, (2016); As Happy As Sad Can Be, Galeria Underdogs, Lisbon, (2017); Eco-Visionários, MAAT, Lisbon, (2018); Bienal de Cerveira, Fundação Bienal de Cerveira, Vila Nova de Cerveira, (2023). She completed the Bed Stuy Art Residency, New York City, (2023).