ExhibitionJune 30, 2023
Ana Gonzalez presents Trópicos at the Oratorio San Felipe Neri
Colombian artist Ana Gonzalez presents Trópicos from June 23 through September 10 at the Oratorio San Felipe Neri in the city of Toledo, Spain.
Trópicos is one of the three exhibitions that will take place this year around the annual proposal of the Consorcio de Toledo, and will be focused on textile art from different dimensions, created by or for women.
González is inspired by Colombia's cultural heritage and, through her work, has become familiar with the crafts of different indigenous communities. Her practice focuses on adverse situations experienced by certain communities and the role of the environment as an active actor in the conflicts that the country has experienced.
For Trópicos, the artist created an 18-meter long textile work that contains the image of the Salto del Tequendama, a natural waterfall that is part of the course of the Bogotá River, in the Andes Mountains. From an ethnographic perspective, waterfalls are sacred places that represent the abundance of life; sites of devotion and renewal, where water nourishes the earth and purifies it. The Salto del Tequendama in particular, is an important water resource that appears in the legends of the Muisca cultures that inhabited this region before the colony.
The image of the Salto del Tequedama is deeply related to the Oratorio San Felipe Neri, witness of cultural syncretisms, since it was built over subterranean baths (architectural remains) of the Roman Empire, which considered water as a ludic and pleasurable element. Meanwhile, the Oratory, a medieval building, alludes to water from the Christian symbolism, as purification and rebirth. Gonzalez's installation is part of a discourse where water represents majesty and through a sound piece that accompanies it reveals another form of sacredness.
Trópicos is one of the three exhibitions that will take place this year around the annual proposal of the Consorcio de Toledo, and will be focused on textile art from different dimensions, created by or for women.
González is inspired by Colombia's cultural heritage and, through her work, has become familiar with the crafts of different indigenous communities. Her practice focuses on adverse situations experienced by certain communities and the role of the environment as an active actor in the conflicts that the country has experienced.
For Trópicos, the artist created an 18-meter long textile work that contains the image of the Salto del Tequendama, a natural waterfall that is part of the course of the Bogotá River, in the Andes Mountains. From an ethnographic perspective, waterfalls are sacred places that represent the abundance of life; sites of devotion and renewal, where water nourishes the earth and purifies it. The Salto del Tequendama in particular, is an important water resource that appears in the legends of the Muisca cultures that inhabited this region before the colony.
The image of the Salto del Tequedama is deeply related to the Oratorio San Felipe Neri, witness of cultural syncretisms, since it was built over subterranean baths (architectural remains) of the Roman Empire, which considered water as a ludic and pleasurable element. Meanwhile, the Oratory, a medieval building, alludes to water from the Christian symbolism, as purification and rebirth. Gonzalez's installation is part of a discourse where water represents majesty and through a sound piece that accompanies it reveals another form of sacredness.
Gallery
