Mexico, 1979.
Lives and works in Mexico City.
Mara Sánchez-Renero
Archival Pigment Print on Optica Smooth Cotton Fiber
2017
“Iluikak” (2016-18), developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2018
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
Archival Pigment Print on Optica Smooth Cotton Fiber
2016
“Iluikak” (2016-18), developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2017
Fine Art Print on Baryta Cotton Fiber
Ed. 7
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
Archival Pigment Print on Optica Smooth Cotton Fiber
2016
“Iluikak” (2016-18), developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2018
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2018
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 7 + 2 A.P.
Fine Art Print
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
Backlint print in lightbox
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2016
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
Backlint print in lightbox
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz. When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters. “Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2017
Ed. 5 + 2 A.P.
Archival pigment print
Sometimes the human being understands his spirit through an architecture that may never become real. Fantasy is that imagination fruit which knows itself as fiction. This is a photographic series of recreational scenarios where the human being has abandoned his identity-selfness to become an imaginary-self. In this architecture of the distraction is where mankind looks to built an ephemeral reality. Lucid Eutopia observed this scenarios faraway from its usual function, looking for another meaning, perhaps more mysterious and tenebrous without its feedbacker component. The photographic works are made during night-time via long expositions. In this desert moment, the oeuvre captures the flow of time, manifesting the actual space activity, bringing back its autonomy and life, moving away from the static image. Lucid Eutopia opens a dialogue over the meaning of these spaces and our need to make them a sanctuary to take refuge.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2017
Ed. 5 + 2 A.P.
Archival pigment print
Sometimes the human being understands his spirit through an architecture that may never become real. Fantasy is that imagination fruit which knows itself as fiction. This is a photographic series of recreational scenarios where the human being has abandoned his identity-selfness to become an imaginary-self. In this architecture of the distraction is where mankind looks to built an ephemeral reality. Lucid Eutopia observed this scenarios faraway from its usual function, looking for another meaning, perhaps more mysterious and tenebrous without its feedbacker component. The photographic works are made during night-time via long expositions. In this desert moment, the oeuvre captures the flow of time, manifesting the actual space activity, bringing back its autonomy and life, moving away from the static image. Lucid Eutopia opens a dialogue over the meaning of these spaces and our need to make them a sanctuary to take refuge.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2014
Edition A: 7 + 2 A.P.
Archival pigment print
El Cimarrón y su Fandango (2014) allegorically speaks about the Afro, Indigenous and Mulato communities in Mexico and its members’ journey through the fluctuations of colonial history, their integration into the Mexican territory, and their sense of identity. Yet that past isn’t merely a descriptive historical concept: it is, above all, a definition of the present. A present, in the case of their Afro-Mexican descendants, that remains marginal, unstable, and immemorial. This series has been largely published in global media including The New York Times, British Journal of Photography and belongs to some of the preeminent institutional collections in Mexico. Recently was shown at National Museum of Photography Centro de la Imagen, Museo Amparo and numerous museums through Asia Pacific with the support of Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2014
Edition A: 7 + 2 P.A.
Archival pigment print
El Cimarrón y su Fandango (2014) allegorically speaks about the Afro, Indigenous and Mulato communities in Mexico and its members’ journey through the fluctuations of colonial history, their integration into the Mexican territory, and their sense of identity. Yet that past isn’t merely a descriptive historical concept: it is, above all, a definition of the present. A present, in the case of their Afro-Mexican descendants, that remains marginal, unstable, and immemorial. This series has been largely published in global media including The New York Times, British Journal of Photography and belongs to some of the preeminent institutional collections in Mexico. Recently was shown at National Museum of Photography Centro de la Imagen, Museo Amparo and numerous museums through Asia Pacific with the support of Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
Archival Pigment Print on Optica Smooth Cotton Fiber
2014
El Cimarrón y su Fandango (2014) allegorically speaks about the Afro, Indigenous and Mulato communities in Mexico and its members’ journey through the fluctuations of colonial history, their integration into the Mexican territory, and their sense of identity. Yet that past isn’t merely a descriptive historical concept: it is, above all, a definition of the present. A present, in the case of their Afro-Mexican descendants, that remains marginal, unstable, and immemorial. This series has been largely published in global media including The New York Times, British Journal of Photography and belongs to some of the preeminent institutional collections in Mexico. Recently was shown at National Museum of Photography Centro de la Imagen, Museo Amparo and numerous museums through Asia Pacific with the support of Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2014
Edition A: 7 + 2 P.A.
Archival pigment print
El Cimarrón y su Fandango (2014) allegorically speaks about the Afro, Indigenous and Mulato communities in Mexico and its members’ journey through the fluctuations of colonial history, their integration into the Mexican territory, and their sense of identity. Yet that past isn’t merely a descriptive historical concept: it is, above all, a definition of the present. A present, in the case of their Afro-Mexican descendants, that remains marginal, unstable, and immemorial. This series has been largely published in global media including The New York Times, British Journal of Photography and belongs to some of the preeminent institutional collections in Mexico. Recently was shown at National Museum of Photography Centro de la Imagen, Museo Amparo and numerous museums through Asia Pacific with the support of Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2014
Edition A: 7 + 2 A.P.
Archival pigment print
El Cimarrón y su Fandango (2014), habla alegóricamente sobre el pasado de una comunidad de origen africano y el viaje de sus miembros a través de las fluctuaciones de la historia colonial, su integración en el territorio mexicano, y su sentido de identidad dentro de ella. No obstante, ese pasado no es solo la descripción de un concepto histórico; es -sobre todo- una definición de la presente. Un presente, en el caso de sus descendientes afro-mexicanos, que permanecen marginados, inestables e inmemorables para el discurso hegemónico.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2014
Edition A: 7 + 2 A.P.
Archival pigment print
El Cimarrón y su Fandango (2014), habla alegóricamente sobre el pasado de una comunidad de origen africano y el viaje de sus miembros a través de las fluctuaciones de la historia colonial, su integración en el territorio mexicano, y su sentido de identidad dentro de ella. No obstante, ese pasado no es solo la descripción de un concepto histórico; es -sobre todo- una definición de la presente. Un presente, en el caso de sus descendientes afro-mexicanos, que permanecen marginados, inestables e inmemorables para el discurso hegemónico.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2014
Edition A: 7 + 2 A.P.
Archival pigment print
El Cimarrón y su Fandango (2014), habla alegóricamente sobre el pasado de una comunidad de origen africano y el viaje de sus miembros a través de las fluctuaciones de la historia colonial, su integración en el territorio mexicano, y su sentido de identidad dentro de ella. No obstante, ese pasado no es solo la descripción de un concepto histórico; es -sobre todo- una definición de la presente. Un presente, en el caso de sus descendientes afro-mexicanos, que permanecen marginados, inestables e inmemorables para el discurso hegemónico.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
2014
Edition A: 7 + 2 A.P.
Archival pigment print
El Cimarrón y su Fandango (2014), habla alegóricamente sobre el pasado de una comunidad de origen africano y el viaje de sus miembros a través de las fluctuaciones de la historia colonial, su integración en el territorio mexicano, y su sentido de identidad dentro de ella. No obstante, ese pasado no es solo la descripción de un concepto histórico; es -sobre todo- una definición de la presente. Un presente, en el caso de sus descendientes afro-mexicanos, que permanecen marginados, inestables e inmemorables para el discurso hegemónico.
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Approximate view with unframed print. Ask for exact available dimensions
Mara Sánchez-Renero
Mexico, 1979.
Lives and works in Mexico City.
MARA SÁNCHEZ-RENERO. Mexico, 1979. Lives and works in Mexico City.
Artist, photographer and professor, Sánchez-Renero has sought to create settings that reveal a specific, controlled environment and then to explore portraiture from inside this new place.
In her images we can witness the dissolution of constructed identity, in isolating men and women from their everyday contexts and instead portraying them within the space of their imaginary fabrication, the space of their mythical existence and thus confront what’s uncertain about human nature.
Graduated by the Institut d'estudis Fotogràfics Catalunya (IEFC) in Barcelona, she lived in Spain one decade showing her work at PhotoEspaña, Sevillafoto, Tráfic & ZaragozaPhoto, then from India to Cuna or Switzerland, praised with the 1st place of the POY Latam 2015 or the SAIF Photographer Revelation Award by Voies Off Festival Arles. She was awarded with the prestigious Mexican“Sistema Nacional de Creadores de México” (FONCA 2018-2020) in two occasions.
Globally reviewed, her series El Cimarrón y su fandango was part of the Visual Art Program from the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry showed at Paris, Haití & Panamá among other countries. In February 2017 her work was exhibited at The Big Unknown, followed by her solo show at ALMANAQUE: Iluikak, curated with a text by the preeminent photography MUAC museum’s curator Amanda de la Garza.
Available works:
“Iluikak” (2016-18) most recent oeuvre of the photographer and solo show in ALMANAQUE, developed in the mountains of the sierra Zongolica, Veracruz.
When the Mexican photographer first traveled to the region in 2016, she found a territory of vast nature, and abundant in culture, in this area mostly inhabited by the Nahuas people. The relationship between the original communities and nature triggered her interest to decode human rituals through photographic composition, creating a new one at the time of the image capture inserting new symbolic elements; in order to show new meanings of the socio- cultural and natural structures that the sierra shelters.
“Iluikak”, is the photographer’s personal gaze of the mysticism that shapes the relationships between nature, identity and territory, in which color and lighting are fundamental, giving specificity to the body of works conforming the exhibition.
Lucid Eutopia (2017) Fantasy is that sort of imagination fruit which is known as fiction. This is a photographic series of recreational scenarios where the human being has abandoned his identity-selfness to become an imaginary-self. In this architecture of the distraction is where mankind looks to built an ephemeral reality. Lucid Eutopia observed this scenarios faraway from its usual function, looking for another meaning, perhaps more mysterious and tenebrous without its feedbacker component.
The photographic works are made during night-time via long expositions. In this desert moment, the oeuvre captures the flow of time, manifesting the actual space activity, bringing back its autonomy and life, moving away from the static image.
The Cimarrón and the Fandango (2014) allegorically speaks about the Afro, Indigenous and Mulato communities in Mexico and its members’ journey through the fluctuations of colonial history, their integration into the Mexican territory, and their sense of identity. Yet that past isn’t merely a descriptive historical concept: it is, above all, a definition of the present. A present, in the case of their Afro-Mexican descendants, that remains marginal, unstable, and immemorial.
During the colonial period in the Americas, a cimarrón was a fugitive black slave who lived a free life in isolated corners of society. The fandango is a popular dance characterized by lively, passionate movement. In Mexico it also means rumba, party, hubbub.
Until 1570, 0.60% of the population of New Spain was comprised by an African community that had arrived as a result of the slave trade between the Spanish Crown and Portugal. This marked the beginning of the continent’s long colonization process.
By 1742, the black population had reached 0.80%, exceeding the number of Spanish inhabitants. One of the reasons for this growth was the Iberian reluctance to immigrate to the new territory, which was considered “unstable” and involved “great risk.” As a result, many African slaves were exported to New Spain as a workforce and divided among various industries: mining, livestock, fishing, and domestic work, among others.
The Mexican constitution recognize the indigenous and native communities, although does not recognize per-se the existence of the Afro-Mexican community. The lack of awareness surrounding the fact that a black community inhabits Mexico has led to all kinds of debates on sociopolitical and identity-related issues, coalescing in the current struggle for greater visibility and recognition.
This is both a homage and a celebration.
This series has been largely published in global media including The New York Times, British Journal of Photography and belongs to some of the preeminent institutional collections in Mexico. Recently was shown at National Museum of Photography Centro de la Imagen, Museo Amparo and numerous museums through Asia Pacific with the support of Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry.