Udire tra le parole (Nove quadrati), 1979 Watercolor on handmade paper
These two small works, one a watercolor and the second an embroidery on canvas, present the abstracted forms of European lettering across a checkerboard structure, creating concrete poems that are difficult to decipher. The embroidered work, titled Divine astrazioni is part of the Arazzi series which often mixed words from the artist’s native Italian with Persian, the language spoken by the Afghani women who embroidered these works for the artist.
Sanford Biggers (b. 1970, United States)
Neroluce, 2018 Antique quilt, assorted textiles, tar, and glitter
Kader Attia (b. 1970, France)
Untitled (burnt wood picture), 2007 Burnt wood and nails on wooden stretcher
Alberto Arboleda (b. 1925, Colombia; d. 2011, Belgium)
Composición blanca, 1966 Collage on board
Polly Apfelbaum (b. 1955, United States)
Wimple, 2009 Marker on synthetic velvet
Polly Apfelbaum (b. 1955, United States)
Sun Target Drawings, 2018 Gouache on paper
Leonor Antunes (b. 1972, Portugal)
random intersections # 10, 2013 Leather and brass hardware
Ghada Amer (b. 1963, Egypt)
Portrait of Kamila, 2020 Acrylic, embroidery, and gel medium on canvas
Candida Alvarez (b. 1955, United States)
Between Two Things, from Air Paintings, 2017–19 Latex ink, acrylic, and collage on PVC mesh with aluminum and wood
(back side)
EtelAdnan(b. 1925, Lebanon; d. 2021, France)
Avril, 2017 Wool tapestry
EtelAdnan(b. 1925, Lebanon; d. 2021, France)
Untitled, 2014 Oil on canvas
EtelAdnan(b. 1925, Lebanon; d. 2021, France)
Planète, 2020 Oil on canvas
Igshaan Adams (b. 1982, South Africa)
Akbar, 2017 Nylon rope, cotton thread, and beads
The title of Igshaan Adams’ Akbar is an Arabic male name, a reference that addresses the South African artist’s Muslim faith. A queer artist who was born of a Muslim father and raised by his Christian grandmother, Adam’s elaborate textiles address the diverse cultural and spiritual contexts that continue to form his identity. The artist has embraced Islamic spirituality and particularly Sufism, and his works might be read as enlarged prayer rugs. This is particularly felt with the second piece in this gallery, titled Theshold II, whose symmetrically woven forms recall the floral patterning of Islamic carpets and their references to a garden paradise. The large central opening in this beaded piece, combined with its title speak to intersections between material and spiritual realms.
Magdalena Abakanowicz (b. 1930, Poland; d. 2017, Poland)
Untitled, 1977 Jute and resin on board
Fabric, figure, and landscape merge in this work by Magdalena Abakanowicz. Initially recognized for her innovative abstract works in fiber and textiles, which she produced at a massive scale during the 1960s, figurative references enter her practice in the 1970s. From 1976-80 she produced Backs, which consists of eighty individual sculptures of the human torso. The 1977 untitled work in this section of the exhibition was produced during this same period and presents the imprint of a headless human back, made from coarse jute sackcloth and molded into place using synthetic resins. The inherent roughness of the natural fiber creates the uncomfortably uneven surface in this piece, with wrinkles and bunches evident throughout. On the foregrounded body, these textures look like the wrinkles of aged skin or scars, while the background areas recall mountains, ravines, or the bark of a tree, adding references to organic matter. The artist has described how “we are all fibrous structures,” and her use of this material here poetically creates connections between the human body and the earth, addressing the wear and suffering both have undergone throughout history.
On April 26, 2024, El Espacio 23 hosted an Open Studio for the artists in residency, Andre Acevedo and Alice Wagner.
The artists showcased to the public the work they had been developing throughout their time at El Espacio 23.
On May 17th, 2024, El Espacio 23 hosted an open studio with three artists in residency: Belen Rodriguez, Irene Infantes, and Pepe Lopez.
Artist Talk: With EE23 Artist in Residency, Pepe López in collaboration with DotFiftyone Gallery, in conversation with Veronica Flom, Director of Fundacion Ama Amoedo
Pepe López sat down with Veronica Flom, Director of Fundacion Ama Amoedo to discuss his recent work here at El Espacio.
He discussed how his current work coincided with El Espacio’s current exhibition “To Weave the Sky” and how it influenced his process.
Throughout his time in residency, he has been working on his series Guapísimas, which he has been developing for the past 20 years. López further discussed his work and presented parts of a film he had recorded 20 years ago, that influenced his work.
Yanelis Mora Morales was born in Holguín (Cuba) in 1984. She studied music in Havana and graduated with a specialization in Choral Conducting and Dramatic Art. From 2003 to 2019 she worked as a theater, radio, and television actress and was awarded “Best Female Performance” three times.
In 2017 she began working as a visual artist, primarily developing a patchwork technique called “foundation paper piecing”, through which she creates small and large textile works.
Her recent exhibitions include “Memoria Oculta” (Solo Show) at Browntone Foundation in Paris, The Art Basel Paris 2023 event, “Women and Visual Arts of the 21st Century”, III Edition of the Contemporary Art Biennial, La Iberoamericana de Alcala, 2023, and “Consonancia” at the Tomas y Valiente Art Center in Madrid, 2024.
In April – May of this year, The Rockerfeller Brothers Fund and The Cuban Artists Fund awarded her the Residency Unlimited grant in New York.
Yanelis is currently preparing for a group exhibition in June 2024 with Galleria Continua in Paris.
On May 17th, 2024, El Espacio 23 held an Open Studio for its Artists in Residence, Pepe Lopez and Belen Rodriguez.
Lopez continued his work on his long term series, “Guapisimas”, which he has been working on for the past 20 years. His process includes gathering found materials on his long “bike rides”, and being inspired by modern day graphics, tv shows, brands, and imagery.
Rodriguez created several pieces using techniques of natural dyeing, weaving, and other forms of fabric manipulation.
Irene Infantes graduated from the University of the Arts in London with a degree in Surface Design and later received her degree in Textile Design from Central Saint Martins. Bridging the gap between art and design, her practice is mostly in the textile field. Focusing on wool and its uses throughout history, felt plays a major role in her work as it is the most primitive textile material that exists. In this search for ‘non-woven textile’, she creates experimental works using everything from ancestral techniques to contemporary machinery, trying to eliminate the boundaries that separate the counterpart of ‘fine art’ from the lesser-known ‘applied art’ and place them in juxtaposition but as equals.
At the base of her work, there is research that includes types of marginal imagery, taken from conventional or non-canonical elements such as psychotherapy tests, diagrams, or schemes to which she approaches as if it were a type of narration. Thus, creating a personal aesthetic with playful intentions in which figures are as dependent on meaning as words or symbols are on texts.
In her facet as a designer, she has overseen projects for Lego, Christopher Farr, Raynaud or Lexus. She has also participated in exhibitions at the London Design Festival, Salone Milan, Denmark Design Museum, among others. Her artistic work can be found in national collections such as CAAC, DKV or FCDP and international collections such as PAMM, UAL London, DKV Hamburg and works with the Alarcon Criado gallery (Seville)
Belén Rodríguez holds a Master’s Degree in Art from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where she studied with Professor Heimo Zobernig. She also received a degree in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid. Her training has been enriched by different experiences in international artist residencies, such as BMUKK in Tokyo, GlogauAIR in Berlin, Academia de España in Rome, Hooper Projects in Los Angeles, Artista x Artista in Havana and Flora ars+natura in Bogotá.
She has received the Staatstipendium Scholarship from the Austrian Ministry of Culture aswell as the Premio Ciutat de Palma Antoni Gelabert de Artes Visuales 2023 Award from the Montemadrid Foundation. She received the Botin Foundation Grant for Plastic Arts, in Santander, Spain 2022.
She has had solo exhibitions at Museo Patio Herreriano, Valladolid, Josh Lilley, London, Alarcón Criado, Seville, Das weisse haus, Vienna, and among others. Her work has been seen in institutions such as Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Tabacalera, Matadero and La Casa Encendida in Madrid, MACBA, Can Felipa and Fabra i Coats in Barcelona, CAAC in Seville, IVAM in Valencia, the Biennale Internationale d’Art Contemporain d’Anglet, France or the Glyptoteket in Copenhagen. Her work is part of the TBA21 collection, the Jorge Pérez Collection, Collegium, the LaCaixa IVAM Foundation, CA2M, the CAAC of Seville, the Bank of Spain, the Montemadrid Foundation, the Retuerta Abbey and the Ministry of Culture of Austria and Spain, among others.
Pepe López is a multimedia artist whose work addresses problems of contemporary life based on a trajectory of constant transformations. López explores the map of the social spectrum through the translation of aesthetic codes, while developing his perception and concepts in a prolific variety of media, such as installations, objects, collages, paintings, performances, photographs, tapestries, videos and sculptures. The motivation, process, and meanings in López’ works, questions crucial aspects of contemporary life such as identity, violence, terrorism, manipulation, simulation, destruction, consumerism and communication.
López has a very particular way of inventing his methods of communication, developing several series of works at the same time. He walks through cities with a shopping cart, recording his path with a video camera as he collects trash, which he then sorts in his studio for use in his urban sculptures. In all of these works, López presents an expanded vision of current society, articulated concepts that include political, economic, social and cultural practices.
Pepe López’s work is a continuous creative development that underpins the next body of his art. The multiform nature of his commitment unfolds in different directions at the same time. Pepe López’s works are a subtle network of connections and relationships between the artist, the public and the space.
