By Pamela Fink
As our skin disappears, our eyes dry up and our hair falls out, all human beings are chillingly similar in their remains. All that remains of life is a whitish skull that looks out in deep darkness from the empty sockets that represent darkness.
This gruesome but poetic figure has inspired artists for centuries. All you need to do is read Hamlet's famous monologue in which he debates the possibilities between life and death while holding a skull in his hand.
The same source of inspiration and the ephemeral nature of our lives have served as the perfect excuse for Trager & Pinto to organize an exhibition of skulls that brings together the artistic knowledge of multiple artists and exhibits the same mortuary theme in the most peculiar variety of pieces and techniques.
Sculptures, canvases, collages, watercolors and looms are just the techniques that various creators chose to pay tribute to La Flaca, the much respected and admired death that we Mexicans seem to have fervor and affection for rather than fear and hatred as other peoples tend to do.
The same playful spirit of the Mexican is reflected in this exhibition of death made by the living. Some of the artists who stand out with their pieces are:
The piezographic impressions of Marina Viancini, who for years has dedicated her life to audiovisual production design, a task that has increased her curiosity and way of capturing life and death in these impressive images that resonate with us from beyond the grave.
Representing the colors of the LGBT flag is the playful piece by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez who seems to imply that what defines us in life will remain with us for posterity in people's memories.
Our frequent exhibitor, the artist Victoria Ezquerra, gives us the fruit of her imagination of a deceased Amazon who, not even death itself, prevents her from enjoying riding at full speed on her spirited horse.
Continuing with the cheerful tone, we find the canvas with mostly blue tones by Paloma Camarena who seems to mock that feeling of anxiety and “eternal” waiting that we feel when waiting for that loved one to contact us with her “Esperando que me hablar la Muerte” (Waiting for Death to Speak to Me).
Antonio Loza Hecht's elegant sculpture of a black skull contrasting with the pristine whiteness of a white pillow invites us to a deeper reflection on life and its chiaroscuros.
As for collage, an old photograph was manipulated by Lorena Campillo to superimpose the image of someone who died many years ago with that of the skeleton.
A small box with a cigarette and hemlock leaves with a legend that reads “I don’t want to die like this” by Bernardo Barquet seems to be a reflection on the little power we have to choose over our death, speaking of suicide as an offer of freedom when leaving this plane.
Among other pieces, we can find a reinterpretation of Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" where instead of seeing the beautiful goddess with rosy cheeks, she is replaced by a skull, perhaps alluding to how ephemeral and frugal beauty is.
To see these and many more mortuary pieces, we invite everyone to the Skull Exhibition that will take place from October 21st in Current Point within La Aurora Factory
