Cicatrices, the scars of healed wounds, are suggested in works about cyclical abuses of power, the resiliency of people, as well as signs and symbols across cultures and centuries. Works featured in Cicatrices demonstrate how personal and collective histories can yield traumas that never fully heal. Several artists in the exhibition evoke symbols and aesthetic approaches of centuries past and chart new contexts for these historic frameworks.
Artists Charo Oquet and Francisco Masó create new visual languages that re-work colonial tropes to comment on contemporary issues. Natalia Arbelaez mines both colonial and ancient forms to create dynamic ceramics. Her practice proposes a hybrid aesthetic shaped by the past, but decidedly belonging to this contemporary moment. With a new large-scale installation, Liene Bosquê evokes Inca history, mythology, and material culture. Emilio Martinez intervenes in the history art. His own immigration experience intermingles with well-known works of religious art from the pages of art history books.
