Zielinsky Barcelona is pleased to present, from November 28, 2024, to February 14, 2025, “Soltaré cien conejos y usted verá cómo le hace para juntarlos todos” a group exhibition featuring works by Felipe Mujica, Sandra Monterroso, Carolina Cordeiro, Shirley Paes Leme, Ricardo Alcaide, Yamandú Canosa and Vera Chaves Barcellos.
The act of weaving involves a movement of the body (or machines) that guides the material into a network where layers and levels overlap and intertwine. However, it is not just matter that is implicated in the act of weaving; the gesture transcends a purely material question. The rhythm of weaving evokes a series of stories, oral traditions, heritages, and knowledge shared across generations. Labor, social interaction, leisure, gender, and the dynamics of what is above and below mix in various ways in this collection of works—from weaving with natural fibers to using photographic printing techniques.
The title of the exhibition, “Soltaré cien conejos y usted verá cómo le hace para juntarlos todos”, is derived from Felipe Mujica’s work (b. 1974, Chile), included in the exhibition, which itself references the Nahuatl tale The King and His Daughter. Mujica chose a phrase from this pre-Hispanic fable to title a series of works he produced during his residency at La Tallera, Cuernavaca, Mexico. The fable reveals social structures associated with processes of Westernization, while the title also reminds the artist of his encounter with the SOAME Tejedoras from Hueyapan cooperative, who, when explaining their processes, often used terms from their indigenous language.
"Soltaré cien conejos y usted verá cómo le hace para juntarlos todos (Curtain 5)" (2022), Mujica's piece in the exhibition, belongs to a series of curtains that incorporate his studies on polyangular geometry, developed by David Alfaro Siqueiros in the 1940s. These works were commissioned by Mujica to the SOAME Tejedoras from Hueyapan cooperative and Tallerocho8 from Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca. The decision to use a previously applied title for this exhibition aligns with its themes: weaving, threading, and layering.
The geometric forms of Mujica's curtains are directly linked to a constructive tradition—colors and elements combined by the artist or appropriated from art history, ranging from Russian to Latin American avant-garde movements. However, this abstract-geometric composition is subject to a collective process in which seamstresses and artisans collaborate with Mujica to create other combinations within a pre-established grid. Weaving emerges as a foundational material and initial support for subsequent interventions: cuts, stitches, and joints. There is a handcrafted and domestic dimension implicit in the construction process, often carried out collectively. It is impossible not to reflect on the contrast between this artisanal and spontaneous method and the large-scale production of the textile industry.
The textile work "Tejido 16" (2024) by Guatemalan artist Sandra Monterroso (b. 1954, Guatemala) is dyed with natural pigments responsible for its tones and chromatic range: red from annatto, purple from cochineal, and blue from indigofera. This series addresses the political and social issues of cultural, economic, and territorial dispossession endured by Indigenous peoples due to the imposition of hegemonic activities in Central America's isthmus region. Natural resources, like the organic materials used by Monterroso and past generations, played a central role in the expansion of a new global order of exploitation.
"América do Sal" (2024) by Carolina Cordeiro (b. 1983, Brazil) is part of a series of works developed with cotton threads woven directly onto walls. This weave holds small salt-filled pouches, alluding to patuás, amulets used in Afro-diasporic religions often worn around the body, sometimes as necklaces. The salt within the pouches symbolizes purification and cleansing, while the woven structure refers to the expansion of territory.
Similarly addressing territory but through different materials, "Eco Verde" (2024) by Yamandú Canosa (b. 1954, Uruguay) is a painting composed of overlapping parallel lines. Using longitudinally cut ribbons, the artist creates a pictorial field where the edges expand and clash with the canvas's limits. The circles in the composition, reminiscent of black holes in astronomical phenomena, draw the viewer into the work, presenting a territory as vast as it is unknown.
The exhibition extends into an interest in weaving within public spaces, featuring works that offer external perspectives or directly interfere with the landscape. "System" (2016) by Ricardo Alcaide (b. 1967, Venezuela) is a painting that integrates his exploration of the relationship between architecture and economic precariousness. His minimalist aesthetic is influenced by modernist architecture, with works reflecting the social implications of urbanism and the creation of ghettos. Poetic and political, his juxtaposition of images and objects questions how people confront economic and social exclusion in different environments.
"Dream Tunnel, Formas Lúdicas no Espaço (Playground)" (1979/1983) by Shirley Paes Leme (b. 1955, Brazil) is a public sculpture and children’s playground. Developed in the 1970s, it was built in a forest in Uberlândia, Brazil, using mainly medium and small sized branches from a fallen tree. The project aimed to create large woven forms that, alongside their aesthetic values, proposed a new concept of play for children. The installation lasted through generations until it was entirely removed by the authorities without reason in 2009. What remains are records, extensive documentation with photographs, sketches, and maps of the installation’s development and use.
Finally, "Epidermic Scapes" by Vera Chaves Barcellos (b. 1938, Brazil), developed in the 1970s, consists of enlarged images of her skin and those close to her. These images lose their indexical function as they become more abstract. Barcellos created each image by applying black ink to various body parts, pressing them onto tracing paper to create negatives, which were then enlarged. Her intention was always to expand these images to a monumental scale, displayed on walls or floors. They form a graphic pattern where different marks resemble an aerial view of terrestrial landscapes.