Until the next 18 October, the Instituto Cultural of Mexico in Madrid (Carrera de San Jerónimo, 46) brings together the talent of outstanding Mexican artists in the exhibition En el interior del cielo (Inside the sky).
Designed for the Instituto Cultural of Mexico, this selection from the Collegium collection seeks to make visible the research and creative processes of artists, inviting the visitor to make a decolonial critical reflection on the dominant narratives in art and history. These works reflect interests, often transversal, that pervade the poetics of the twelve selected artists. The exhibition is divided into two central focuses that mix and confuse, but which, in a way, help to understand the established dialogue.
The pieces in this exhibition are part of the private collection of Lorena Pérez-Jácome and Javier Lumbreras, promoters of Collegium.
The title of the exhibition is inspired by the text Inside the sky, by Nezahualcóyotl (1402-1472), an illustrious monarch, poet and architect who is a pillar of pre-Hispanic thought. In his poetry, the sky is presented as a space of self-determination and a portal to seemingly unattainable riddles.
This choice not only highlights the cultural and philosophical richness of the civilizations originating in Mexico, but also gives continuity to the interest of analyzing history beyond the historically revered characters, since Collegium is located in the city of Arévalo, in the province of Ávila, an environment marked by the monarch Isabel de Castilla, who was at the forefront of the processes of contact between Europe and the Americas, as well as the figure of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the building of the Jesuit complex, being this one of the first colleges of the Society of Jesus built in Europe, and then it would influence the culture of countries all over the world. As a cultural institution inserted in the dynamics of contemporary society and referencing Nezahualcóyotl, the exhibition highlights the importance of valuing the perspectives of the pre-Hispanic world, often superimposed and overshadowed by Western references.
The exhibition shows works by Juan Pablo Macías, Mariana Castillo Deball, Jorge Méndez Blake, Mario García Torres, José Salvador Alvarengua, Elizabeth Calzado, Damián Ortega, Carlos Amorales, Cruzvillegas, Pepe Mar and Tania Pérez Córdova.
