The art of sharing sadness: an exhibition in Barranco explores the feeling of loss after the pandemic

Elena Tejada-Herrera leaves us her mother’s shoe, plants a plant inside, and waits for the viewer to water it. Maricel Delgado hangs photographic papers to suggest, in their slow veiling, the passing of time. Les Edgúsquiza builds a mountain to delve into his own abyss. Gabriela Flores extracts drawings from the wall to build bridges with the absent person. Rocío Gómez writes promises on ice and lets them evaporate in the sun, revealing her ephemeral nature. Luisa Fernanda Lindo satirizes the failed promises of love, taking them to the field of legal bureaucracy.

These are just some of the artistic proposals brought together by the curator and visual artist Cecilia Jurado in “After”, an open exhibition at Grau Galería, which invites the viewer to pause in front of a series of minimal and silent pieces and installations, full of meaning about the course of the of life, loss and the certainty that nothing lasts forever.

“Somehow, our shared memory is built on the basis of happy moments. Sadness is reserved for a more intimate circle. But the pandemic has been something so painful that today we are more open to sharing that sadness that has affected us all.”, explains the curator.

In times when we are beginning to recover from the pandemic, “After” speaks to us, with subtle provocation, about how to assimilate pain and emptiness. “I think this show ended up being very much in tune with the current moment, but it also makes the audience feel included.“, Add.

Fleeing from the commonplace of the pandemic, “Después” speaks to us from a much more silent, subtle and intimate place. “The pandemic has been extremely tragic, and it seemed interesting to me that this group of artists speaks to us in an existentialist way, in a way,” Jurado explains.

In addition to the artists already mentioned, participating in the exhibition are Maya Ballén, Gala Berger, Teresa Borasino, Jimena Chávez Delion, Sylvia Fernández, Natalia Iguiñiz Boggio, left wind Ugaz, Verónica Majluf, Gilda Mantilla, Rafael Mayu Nolte, Rita Ponce de León, Ana Lucía Saavedra, Daniel Tremolada, Camila Valdeavellano, Alice Vega and Fil Uno.

“There are two very present themes. The first has to do with the family, the second, with absences, and how they change us. The pain generated by the death of the other. It also has to do with questioning the now and the later. The question we all have about the future. How to prepare in the midst of uncertainty. Before we had a much more fabricated idea of ​​the future, whereas now we cannot take anything for granted, we have no idea what is going to happen”, says the curator.